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CHAPTER NINE
THE HASIDIC IMMIGRATION OF 5537 (1777)
The Fellowship of the Immigrants
An important chapter in the story of messianic immigrations between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries is that of the Hasidic
immigration of 5537 (1777). The writer Benjamin Redler-Feldman
(R. Benjamin), a participant in the Second immigration,1 compared
the Hasidic immigrants to the pilgrims who came to America aboard
the Mayflower. That comparison is certainly exaggerated, but it provides historical perspective on the importance of this immigration:
Hundreds of years ago, on 5 August 1620, a ship called the “Mayflower”
reached the shores of America and a band of English Puritans disembarked. They had left their native land, where they were targets of
religious persecution, and came to America to live there in freedom.
To this day, Americans revere the memory of that ship, and descendants of that band are regarded as having the highest pedigree.
Had we a profound sense of history, we would relate in the same
manner to the Hasidic aliyyah of 5537 (1777), for the ship that brought
them to the Land of Israel was our “Mayflower.”2
The group of immigrants comprised disciples and colleagues of
R. Ye§iel Mikhel, coming both from White Russia and from Volhynia
and Eastern Galicia. Some researchers, emphasizing the White Russian
origin of the group’s leaders—R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk and
R. Abraham of Kolyshki—infer that all of the immigrants came from
that region. But there is in fact strong evidence that the group comprised flasidim from both regions: the band embarked from Brody;
fund raising efforts on its behalf were centralized in that city from
the outset; and a schism later developed between immigrants from
1
Historians of Zionism speak of five waves of resettlement of the Land of Israel
(Aliyyot) preceding World War II. The Second immigration, 1904–1914, comprised
primarily pioneers from Eastern Europe, many of whom had socialist and even
communist tendencies.—translator’s note.
2
Benjamin Redler, in Ha-Aretz, 22 May 1927, p. 3; Hailperin 1947, pp. 22–23.
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the two regions. The continual contacts between the immigrants and
the Hasidic-messianist group led by R. Ye§iel Mikhel evidence a
single group with a shared goal. These ties can be inferred from the
actions of the two bands, the familial and social connections between
them, and their common concealment of the mystical underpinnings
of their enterprise.
The two epistles of R. Meshullam Feibush Heller, a close disciple
of R. Ye§iel Mikhel, are an important source of information about
the immigration, for they are the only surviving letters sent from the
Diaspora to the immigrants. But R. Meshullam Feibush’s comments
have been misinterpreted as the remarks of a casual observer of the
enterprise. In fact, his use of the third person to refer to the immigrants does not indicate distance from them; rather, it reflects the
constraints imposed by the group’s commitment to writing cryptically.
R. Meshullam Feibush Heller was the brother-in-law of one of the
immigrants, R. Joel b. Moses (also a disciple of R. Ye§iel Mikhel),3
and the letters sent to him were intended for all the group’s members in the Land of Israel.
In contrast, we possess many of letters sent by the leaders of the
immigrants to the group’s members in the Diaspora, and their higher
survival rate may be connected to the manner in which they were
distributed. Some of the letters were sent via rabbinic emissaries,
passing merchants, or pilgrims, while others were sent “by post”4—
extremely expensive postal services. In order to save money and
ensure that the letters would reach their destination, they would often
send multiple copies and would even request the addressees to make
copies and send them on to additional recipients. It that way, the
circle of readers was broadened, and many of the letters made their
way into print. Unfortunately, many of the letters underwent censorship or had invented passages inserted in them, so that their authors’
full accounts became distorted beyond recognition.5 Still, the letters
were written in the code used by all members of the group, and
when they are read together with the epistles of R. Meshullam
3
By R. Meshullam Feibush’s own account. See Precious Gleanings (Zolkow 5560
[1800]) 22b, ( Jerusalem 5734 [1974]) 117a: “And I know that you appreciate the
words of the rabbi, the Maggid, may his light shine, and I appreciate them greatly . . . so
I determined to write down for you the words he spoke on this matter.”
4
Barnai 1980, letter 33, p. 149.
5
See Haran 1990; Haran 1991. Cf. Mondschein 1992/1. For a detailed research,
see Karlinsky 1998.
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Feibush Heller, their concealed content becomes clear. The available information shows the existence of a fully formed group with
a messianic program whose implementation was to be accelerated
by the immigration to the Land of Israel.
The messianic program was based on the holy place, the holy
man, and the proper time; only their commingling could prepare
the ground for the Messiah’s advent and open the gates of redemption.6 According to the plan, the members of the group who immigrated to the Land of Israel represented the group as a whole. Their
task was to sanctify themselves with the sanctity of the Land and
prepare themselves to herald the redemption, which would begin in
the Land of Israel in the month of Iyyar 5541 (April–May 1781).
In other words, the immigrants were emissaries. Their immigration
to the Land of Israel was to serve as the “an arousal below” which
had the potential to bring about “the arousal above” and stimulate
the coupling in the supernal worlds.
The group of immigrants was headed, as already noted, by
R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk, then about thirty-nine years of age.
R. Mena§em Mendel was believed to be endowed with meta-rational
knowledge grounded in higher inspiration, a sort of “prophetic mind”
as defined by Moshe Halamish.7 That sort of consciousness precedes
the existence of the mind and rational thought and differs fundamentally from them. It is sometimes referred to in Hasidic writings
as “the mind’s primordial condition (qadmut ha-sekhel),” and Gershom
Scholem identified it with unconscious region of the soul or the “primordial soul,” which “is not passive and inert but active and creative.”8 It is the region that comes into contact with divine inspiration
and is nourished by it, and it therefore mediates between divine wisdom and human cognition. One way in which the unconscious mediates is by translating divine knowledge into images that are received
by rational consciousness and processed by it into simple, understandable truths expressed in words. Having that ability made it possible for R. Mena§em Mendel to see in the form of a vision what
6
This contrasts with the Sabbatean movement, which gradually came to disregard the holy place and concentrate on the holy man—Shabbetai Çevi. See Elqayam
1998.
7
See Halamish 1998, p. 228. On the messianic element in the doctrines and
actions of R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk, see Hailperin 1947, pp. 38–49, Halamish
1998, pp. 225–240; Morgenstern 1999, pp. 199–204.
8
Scholem 1976/1, vol. 2, p. 358.
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the future concealed, as if foreseeing what was to be, and to infer
the outcome of a matter from its origin: “Thus I will know the end
of every object, its description, appearance, and size, and, with God’s
help, I will not err in what I see.”9 R. Mena§em Mendel denied he
had the attribute of prophecy, writing that “I am not a prophet or
a seer”; but he did not deny having been endowed with supernatural knowledge, grounded in “the Torah of truth and God’s
counsel to know all the people He created.” His quality of seeing
in a vision what human eyes normally cannot see, combined with
his connection to his colleagues through strong bonds of love, enabled
him to know them—“I know each of them from A to Z”—and to
see them “as if their images stood before me, recognizing their
appearances in the uncovering of their hearts, their essences, and
their qualities.”10
Thus, the two leaders of the Hasidic-messianist group—R. Ye§iel
Mikhel, who remained in the Diaspora, and R. Mena§em Mendel
of Vitebsk, who immigrated to the Land of Israel—were believed to
attain the Holy Spirit in different but complementary manners: the
one “heard” the divine voice through the entry of “understanding”
into words of Torah or prayer,11 while the other “saw” the truth in
a vision. Both qualities were essential to the success of their program. According to the doctrine of linkage of souls, developed in
R. Ye§iel Mikhel’s study house, R. Ye§iel Mikhel elevated the prayers
of the group’s members and purified them of extraneous thoughts,
while the members’ prayers elevated his image, the image of the
çaddik, and perfected it. Meanwhile, R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk
was ready to portray the images of the members in his heart, to
gather their prayers, and to send them on, via “the Gate of Heaven,”
to the supernal sanctuaries. Using other imagery, they can be described
as a human embodiment of Yakhin and Boaz, the two pillars of the
Temple.
The members of the group thus translated into practical terms the
advice of R. Isaiah Horowitz (the Shelah) to dispatch prayers to “the
Gate of Heaven.” That translation gained expression in the linkage
formulation preserved in the writings of R. Abraham of Zolochev,
in which the route taken by the members’ prayers is sketched:
9
10
11
Barnai 1980, letter 39, p. 167.
Ibid., pp. 166–167.
See above, pp. 93–100.
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“I hereby dispatch my prayer from here to the Land of Israel, from
the Land of Israel to Jerusalem; from Jerusalem to the Temple
Mount; from the Temple Mount to the courtyard; from the courtyard to the hall; from the hall to the sanctuary; from the sanctuary
to the holy of holies; and from the holy of holies to the sanctuary
of the sapphire pavement, to the very place where my patriarchs
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob prayed.”12 And this was no mere symbolic path; it is an actual path that the group of immigrants planned
to follow at the proper time, with the opening of the Gates of Heaven
in the month of Iyyar 5541 (April–May 1781).
Following R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk in the leadership ranks
of the immigrants was R. Abraham Katz (≈ùùk, an acronym for kohen
çedeq, priest of righteousness) of Kolyshki. His position appears to
have been no mere happenstance, for service in the Temple requires
a priest, and that explains the frequent pairing of prophet and priest—
after the model of Moses and Aaron—within messianist groups of
kabbalists. R. Joseph Karo saw himself in the image of Moses, and
his colleague R. Solomon ha-Levi Elqabetç was in the image of
Aaron the priest. R. Ye§iel Mikhel also identified with the image of
Moses, and it may not be a coincidence that of all his colleagues it
was a Levite—R. Meshullam Feibush ha-Levi Heller—who was
selected to write the epistles that were dispatched to the Land of
Israel.
The immigrants were the elite of the group. R. Meshullam Feibush
Heller referred to them as “the heads of the Israelites”—the term
used for the twelve spies, representatives of the tribes, who had been
dispatched to scout the Land of Canaan (Num. 13:3). Moreover, he
explicitly noted that they were endowed with the Holy Spirit: “And
the whole ones who went were very renowned, possessors of the
Holy Spirit, great ones of the revealed and hidden Torah, and with
them the heads of the Israelites,13 from the poor of the holy flock,
the lamb of Israel’s dispersion.”14
12
Tractate Avot With the commentary Fruit of Life 39a.
Precious Gleanings (Lemberg 5552 [1792]), 26a; (Mezirov 5554 [1794]), 27b—
here use an acronym meaning the “heads of the Israelites” (ybr, r-b-y = roshei benei
yisra’el ). The third edition, Zolkow 5560 (1800), 27a, misreads it as an abbreviation for “many” (µybr—rabbim).
14
Precious Gleanings (Lemberg 5552 [1792]) 26a, ( Jerusalem 5734 [1974]) 131a.
13
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The expression “poor of the flock” that R. Meshullam Feibush
uses to refer to the immigrants is borrowed from the prophet Zechariah:
“And the poor of the flock that heed me will know that it was the
word of the Lord” (Zech. 11:11). Rashi interprets the poor of the
flock as “the righteous ones among them, who observe my rules,”
while the author of David’s Fortress, relying on the shared verbal stem
(hn[—'-n-h) of “poor” and “humble,” explains that the poor of the
flock are “the humble and subjugated of Israel, who observe my
word.”15 The reference, accordingly, is to the spiritually humble, the
righteous who serve God with devotion and submission, and not to
the literally poor, as some investigators have incorrectly understood
it.16 Moreover, “poor” is the description applied to the Messiah by
the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 9:9), and “the poor and the destitute”
is a term applied to the Israelites returning from the lands of their
exile.17
The messianic aspect of R. Meshullam Feibush Heller’s description
of the immigrants is expressed as well in his application to them of
the term “whole ones.” This implies they are perfect—flawless and
lacking nothing. “Whole ones” are also those who, as Rashi interprets it, accepted the shared decision “that all would be equally committed to a single agreement.”18 That sobriquet shows that the decision
to immigrate was a shared one, intended to fulfill a special, defined
assignment. But the adjectives “whole” (shalem) and “perfect” (tamim)
refer as well to sexual purity, and Scripture, as understood by
various midrashim assigns them to one who has been circumcised.19
15
See R. David Altshuler, David’s Fortress, on Zech. 11:11. The connection between
poor and humble gained expression in the idea of voluntary poverty, which developed among the Ebionites, a Jewish-Christian sect that existed until the end of the
fourth century. The Ebionites stood for an ascetic way of life, circumcised their
sons, and observed the Sabbath. They rejected the divinity of Jesus but believed in
him as a spiritual redeemer. See The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 523.
16
Cf. Assaf 1996, p. 334. The connection between poverty and humbleness is
expressed in the discourses of R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk on self-abnegation
and is described in the discourse on Shabbat Na§amu, the Sabbath of Consolation
that follows the Fast of the Ninth of Av. In it, R. Mena§em Mendel explains that
the shekhinah is called “poor” because of her humbleness, for she has nothing of her
own except the belief in truth. See Fruit of the Land (Peri ha-Aretç), (Vaet§anan), 23b.
17
See the commentary of Radaq on Isa. 41:17—“The poor and the indigent—
those who were exiled, when they leave exile to return to their Land.”
18
See Rashi on Nah. 1:12—“Thus says the Lord: If they are complete and many,
they will likewise be cut down and pass away, and I will afflict you no more.”
19
See Genesis Rabbah, vol. 2 (Lekh-Lekha), 43:6—“The king of Shalem—R. Isaac
of Babylonian said: He was born circumcised.” (The comment takes “shalem” as an
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These designations show the importance assigned to the high ethical
caliber and sexual purity of the immigrants, without which they would
be unable to carry out the task for whose sake they had immigrated.
The connection between sexual purity and entry into the land
goes back to the Bible. God promises Abraham that the Land of
Canaan will be bequeathed to his descendants but sets as a precondition the covenant of circumcision, that is, removal of the
foreskin:
And I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land in which
you sojourn, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and
I will be their God. And God said to Abraham, “But you shall keep
my covenant, you and your descendants after you for all their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and
you and your seed after you: circumcise every male among you. And
you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be
a sign of the covenant between Me and you. (Gen. 17:8–11.)
Similarly, Joshua circumcises the nation before they cross the Jordan
to enter the Land of Israel,20 and rabbinic midrash has him say to
them, “Do you think you will enter the Land uncircumcised?”21 In
kabbalistic tradition, removal of the foreskin symbolizes elimination
of the forces of evil. In fulfilling the commandment of circumcision,
a man is sanctified and transformed into a righteous person, fit to
approach the shekhinah and enter the Land of Israel.22 Estori ha-Par§i
likewise wrote: “one who comes and enters the Holy Land to dwell
in it should enter holy in his wealth and holy in his body; he should
be pure of hands, clean of palms, and a person of feeling . . . And
if so, one who is a perfect offering will find the Land of Israel suited
to him.”23
The sexual purity ascribed to the immigrants was attributed in
Hasidic tradition to R. Ye§iel Mikhel himself. It is possible that his
obligation and that of his son, R. Joseph of Yampol, to immigrate
adjective describing the king rather than as the name of the city over which he
reigned.—translator’s note) See also Midrash Tanhuma (Noa§) 6:48—“‘Noa§ was a
righteous man, he was tamim’ (Gen. 6:9)—He was born circumcised.”
20
Josh. 5:4.
21
Genesis Rabbah, vol. 2 (Lekh-Lekha), 46:9.
22
See Jacobson 1996, p. 340.
23
Bud and Flower, chap. 42, 92a. See also Rashi on Gen. 26:2—“‘Do not go
down to Egypt’—for you are a perfect offering, and the world outside the Land of
Israel is not suited to you.”
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to the Land of Israel may form the background for the plan to send
some members of the group as a vanguard, as hinted at in the epistle of R. Mena§em Mendel of Peremyshlyany.24 It is not known why
they failed to join the immigrants but, in any event, the immigrants
did include the third person mentioned in the epistle, R. Ye§iel
Mikhel’s relative R. Solomon Zalman Vilner.25 Upon his arrival, he
became one of the group’s most active rabbinic emissaries. (Rabbinic
emissaries were individuals dispatched to the Diaspora to raise funds
and organize the support of the various communities for the residents of the Land of Israel.) R. Solomon Vilner was involved not
only in monetary matters; he delivered letters and messages as well
and served as a personal emissary from the leader of the immigrants,
R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk, to the leaders of the Brody community. It is fair to assume that he also was the liaison between R. Ye§iel
Mikhel and R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk. Evidence to that effect
can be found in the comments of R. Meshullam Feibush Heller, whose
letter of Tishri 5542 (1781) suggests that he met with R. Solomon
Vilner.26 It appears the meeting took place in Brody in 5541 (1781),
before R. Solomon Vilner returned to the Land of Israel, and R. Ye§iel
Mikhel presumably was present as well.
The Journey to the Land of Israel and the Settlement in Safed and Tiberias
The immigrants and their families set out at the height of winter,
in the month of Adar 5537 (1777), a few months before the tiqqun
leil shavu'ot conducted in R. Ye§iel Mikhel’s prayer house in Brody.27
The timing was deliberate, for in that year, “a rumor went out that
the King Messiah was coming.”28 David Assaf has associated the
rumor with the victories at that time of Russia against the Ottoman
Empire that created rumors of a nearby Jewish redemption among
24
See above, p. 164.
On R. Solomon Zalman ha-Kohen Vilner, see below, pp. 293–294.
26
See Precious Gleanings (Lemberg 5552 [1792]) 25b, ( Jerusalem 5734 [1974])
129b.
27
On the tiqqun leil shavu'ot conducted in Brody, see above, pp. 81–104. It should
be noted that 5537 (1777) was a leap year, and it is not known if the immigrants
set out in First or Second Adar. In any event, the time in question was February
to April 5537 (1777).
28
Assaf 1996, p. 328.
25
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Christian millenarian circles, as well as the year’s status as the centenary (two jubilee periods) of Shabbetai Çevi’s death.29 The rumor
spread not only in Eastern Europe but through all quarters of the
Jewish world, and it may have been the impetus for the immigration
of a group from North Africa—“Sefardi people” from the community of “Tukos,” apparently Tunis, whom the immigrants encountered in the Land of Israel. R. Israel of Polotsk reports in a letter
that the North African group numbered thirty, while R. Mena§em
Mendel of Vitebsk tells of 130 souls.30 The flasidim saw the gathering of Jews from different parts of the Diaspora as a sign that the
Messiah was coming. They wrote to their colleagues that the North
Africans included “rich and poor alike, Sages and servants of God,”31
and they suggested the North Africans’ motive for coming resembled their own: “they all entered into a pact last Purim to go to the
Holy Land, and so they did. And they were able to do so.”32 In
effect, they depicted the immigrants from North Africa as a mirror
image of themselves.33
At that time, the usual route for immigration to the Land of Israel
comprised four segments: southward, overland, via Ukraine and
Podolia to the River Dneister, beyond which lay Wallachia, under
Ottoman rule, and on to the city of Galati (now in Romania); from
Galati, down the River Danube to the Black Sea estuary, a distance
29
Ibid., pp. 329, 340.
See Barnai 1980, letter 13, p. 75; cf. letter 12, p. 72.
31
Ibid., letter 12, p. 72.
32
Ibid., letter 13, p. 75. Similarly, Morgenstern 1999, pp. 183–184.
33
So far, scholars did not trace the Tunisian group in any other testimonies but
this Hasidic letter. Nevertheless, it is known that one of the Hasidic emigrants, the
owner of Ms. Jerusalem 8 5979, traveled in later years to Tunis and visited the
Jewish community of Nabel, where he stayed in the inn of a family by the name
of fladad. These Jews could have been relatives of the 5537 (1777) Tunisian emigrants. Another interesting detail that may be connected with the arrival of the
group is the desire to learn Kabbalah among Tunisian scholars. R. flayyim Joseph
David Azulai visited Tunis in 5533–5534 (1773–1774) and met a group of Kabbalists
that owned manuscripts of practical Kabbalah and Lurianic Kabbalah. Their leader,
R. Avraham ha-Kohen Tanugi, “said that he was a prophet and the spark of
Jermiah and Ezekiel.” Although repeatedly asked, Azulai refused to share his esoteric knowledge with them in fear of R. Avraham’s brother, R. Joshua ha-Kohen
Tanugi, the chief Rabbi of Tunis that resented the group’s activities and claimed
that they were acting out of “vanity.” See Azulai’s diary Good Circle (Ma"agal Tov),
pp. 58, 63. It should be noted that R. Joshua ha-Kohen Tanugi immigrated in
5556 (1796) to the Land of Israel and died in Safed. I thank Yaron Zur for this
information.
30
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of about 150 kilometers; by ship on the Black Sea to Istanbul, a distance of about 450 kilometers; and from Istanbul, by ship on the
Mediterranean to the shores of the Land of Israel, usually to the
port of Acco, a distance of about 1,700 kilometers. The pilgrims’
ships left Istanbul twice a year: in the month of Nisan, in anticipation of Passover, and at the start of the month of Elul, in anticipation of Rosh Ha-Shanah and the other holidays of Tishri. The entire
journey, from the Polish border to the Land of Israel, took thirty or
forty days, excluding delays and necessarily longer stays in one of
the ports—in Galati, at the Black Sea estuary (apparently in the port
of Solena), or in Istanbul—because of adverse weather conditions.34
Istanbul was the center of Ottoman rule, and the Jewish community there excelled in the help and organized support it provided
to pilgrims, immigrants and the inhabitants of the Land of Israel.
On the first of Elul, the leaders of the community would hire a special ship called “the fund’s ship,” for the rabbinic emissaries, who
would transport large sums of money to the Jews of the Land of
Israel, and its time of departure would be announced in all the city’s
synagogues.35 Most of the pilgrims and immigrants preferred to depart
in advance of the Tishri holidays, generally awaited the organized
departure in the month of Elul;36 on a ship leased by the Jewish
community they felt more secure vis-à-vis both the ship owners and
the sailors, and they also were less fearful of being robbed by pirates
or kidnapped into slavery—common occurrences in the Ottoman
empire until the nineteenth century.
The group safely completed the overland portion of the journey
as well as the trip down the Danube to the Black Sea estuary. There,
apparently at the port of Solena, they made camp and waited until
conditions permitted a comfortable and secure crossing of the Black
Sea. But the original plan may have been to reach the Land of
Israel in time for Shavuot in the year 5537 (1777), and some of
them therefore hastened to depart at winter’s end or the beginning
of the spring. They encountered a storm on the Black Sea, and their
34
See Ya'ari 1946, esp. p. 388; Hailperin 1947, p. 21.
See Ya'ari 1946, p. 391. The support of the Jewish communities of the Ottoman
Empire was institutionalized with the establishment of “The Istanbul Committee of
Officials for the Land of Israel” for the purpose of collecting money in the Diaspora
and transporting it safely to the Land of Israel. See Hacker 1988; Barnai 1992, pp.
53–105.
36
See Barnai 1980, letter 42, p. 174.
35
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ship was wrecked and went down near the Crimean Peninsula. Of
the eighty-three passengers, including women, children, and elderly,
only thirty were rescued; the remaining fifty-three travelers drowned.
Their bodies washed ashore the following week, and they were
identified and buried. Some of the survivors saw the event as a test
of their determination, and they decided to continue on to the Land
of Israel. Others returned penniless to their places of origin. And so,
for example, the Brody court in 5538 (1778) took the testimony of
one of the survivors in order to confirm that one of the surviving
women had in fact been widowed in the wreck and was free to
remarry. The witness recounted how the woman’s husband had
bound himself with ropes to the mast and was probably thrown into
the sea by the Ishmaelite (Muslim) sailors. The family’s two daughters also drowned, though it is not clear which of the family members drowned first. The witness himself had managed to rescue a
baby, whom he carried the entire time on his shoulders, and when
he reached dry land, he sought out a campfire at which he could
warm the infant.37
The account of the wrecked ship, which cast a dark shadow over
the entire journey, is wrapped in mystery. Climatic conditions in the
Black Sea make it impossible for a ship setting out southward to
Istanbul to be swept 270 kilometers eastward to the shores of Crimea;
the prevailing winds and currents simply do not go in that direction.38 Had the ship encountered a storm while sailing southward
from the Black Sea estuary (Solena) toward Istanbul, it likely would
have been swept southward or northward and wrecked on the coast
of Rumania. We may infer, therefore, that it sailed not southward
but eastward, toward the Crimean Peninsula. When it neared the
rocky coast of Crimea, its sailors lost control of its rudder, the ship
encountered a storm, and it broke up on the rocks near shore.
Why the ship sailed eastward rather than southward remains
unknown. It is possible that the group of flasidim unwittingly hired
a pirate ship, whose masters sailed toward the Crimean Peninsula
37
See, more broadly, Assaf 1996, pp. 322–331.
Sixty percent of the time, the winds blow from north to south, and forty percent of the time from south to north. Similarly, the direction of the currents is usually from north to south along the entire western coast of the Black Sea, and
sometimes from east to west. My thanks to Captain Immanuel Klemperer of Haifa
for the nautical conditions and the analysis of the possible route of the ship.
38
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intending to rob their naïve passengers in mid-ocean or to sell them
into slavery. At that time, the Crimean Peninsula was under the rule
of the Tatars, who traded in slaves taken in that way.39 If so, the
flasidim and their families set sail without understanding their actual
situation; they did not speak the sailors’ language—apparently,
Turkish—and were unaware that they had been kidnapped and were
sailing eastward rather than southward.
The remainder of the immigrants stayed behind on the shores of
the Black Sea and did not set sail for Istanbul until the approach
of the month of Elul. From Istanbul, they sailed in two ships, one
taking seven days and the other nine. R. Israel of Polotsk wrote to
his colleagues, “Blessed is God, Who has kept us alive, sustained us,
and brought us to the Holy Land in peace on this fifth day of Elul
5537 (1777), not one of us lost.”40 The size of the group is unknown;
R. Israel of Polotsk said it numbered “more than three hundred
souls,”41 but that is certainly an overstatement, and he may have
included in it those who were lost in the shipwreck as well as those
who were rescued and returned home. flaya Stiman-Katz estimated
that about twenty-five flasidim arrived; with their wives and children,
they numbered more than one hundred people.42
Upon their arrival, the group headed to the Galilee, which was
ruled by the Pasha A§med Jazzar. Some settled in Pequi'in and in
Kefar Yasif, where a few families of Jewish farmers lived, but most
settled in Safed. In the late 1720s, few hundred Jews resided in
Safed. But an epidemic broke out in 5502 (1742), and several earthquakes in 5520 (1760) led to the abandonment of many houses; overall, the number of Jews dwindled to about two hundred. A§med
Jazzar, who generally taxed the populace heavily, was gracious to
the residents of Safed and eased their tax burden, aiming to repopulate it. R. Israel of Polotsk observes, “And we found in [Safed]
many good, large, empty houses. We now worship in Beit Yosef.
There are three intact synagogues here and many in ruins. And we
are building a new synagogue for ourselves.”43 And so the immigrants
39
It should be noted that the port of Sebastopol on the Crimean Peninsula,
which included a Russian fortress and military base, was built only in 5544 (1784),
seven years after the Hasidic immigration.
40
Barnai 1980, letter 13, p. 76.
41
Ibid., p. 74.
42
See Stiman-Katz 1986, p. 29; cf. Assaf 1996, p. 320.
43
Barnai 1980, letter 13, p. 74.
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resettled the abandoned houses, made the synagogue of R. Joseph
Karo, Beit Yosef, their regular place of worship, and began to build
an additional synagogue. They explored Safed and its surroundings,
worshipping at the Ari’s grave and at the graves of talmudic Sages
and visiting the cave of R. Simeon b. Yo§ai in Meron. They also
went down to Tiberias to immerse in its hot springs and visit its
ancient sites. They wrote to their colleagues that the Sages of Jerusalem
invited them to live amongst them and that the Sages of Tiberias
likewise urged them to settle there.44
The enthusiastic tone of the group’s letters to the Diaspora could
scarcely conceal the shock of their encounter with the Land of Israel.
It was a backward land subject to a corrupt, arbitrary government
whose tyranny produced a perpetual state of instability. The immigrants were subjected not only to the provocations of their Muslim
neighbors and the insecurity of highways plagued by brigands, but
also to the natural hardships of the Land—malaria, especially in the
marshy areas surrounding the Sea of Galilee, plague, constantly short
supplies of potable water, and locusts that would consume grain and
cause severe famine. City dwellers were few, and earthquakes frequently claimed victims and emptied settlements overnight. Sources
of income were very limited—primitive agriculture, light crafts,
shepherding. The Ashkenazi Jews, unacquainted with the Arabic
and Turkish vernaculars, suffered particular hardship. Years later,
R. Abraham of Kolyshki described the reaction of one newly arrived
in the Land of Israel, who is at first “driven literally insane, rendered mad with no respite, ascending heavenward and descending
to the depths like a ship wrecked at sea.”45 But the immigrants did
not at the outset disclose these feelings, and R. Abraham of Kolyshki,
writing in 5538 (1778), struck a hopeful tone: “Over time, people
will learn one another’s languages, and it will be possible to engage
in many ways of making a living.”46 Meanwhile, they lived off the
funds they had brought with them and off loans that they did not
know how to repay.
These external difficulties of the immigrants were compounded
by power struggles and internal conflicts with the long-established
Jewish residents of the Land of Israel. The small Jewish community,
44
45
46
See ibid., letter 11, pp. 67–68.
Hailperin 1947, pp. 26–27; Ya'ari 1971, p. 323.
Barnai 1980, letter 11, p. 67.
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divided between Ashkenazim and Sefardim, was concentrated in the
four holy cities—Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed, and Tiberias—as well as
in Gaza, Acco, Shekhem, Jaffa and in the Galilee villages such as
Shefaram and Peqi'in. According to Jacob Barnai’s estimations, 3000
Jews lived in Jerusalem out of a total population of 15,000 people.
In the other three holy cities—Hebron, Safed, and Tiberias—there
were smaller communities, numbering hundreds each, altogether
about 1500–2000 people. Several hundred Jews lived in the Galilee
villages while in the other cities there were a few dozen Jews. During
the eighteenth century there were thus some 6000–8000 Jews in the
Land of Israel.47 Most of the Jews lived off light labor, commerce,
and allotments of the funds raised in the Diaspora. The dependence
on charity generated conflict over how to distribute the funds among
the various communities in a non-discriminatory fashion. Particularly
intense was the conflict between the established residents and the
new immigrants, whose arrival expanded the circle of recipients,
thereby reducing the per-capita allocation. To make matters worse,
the established residents would regularly bring into the conflicts the
leaders of the donor communities, such as “the Istanbul Committee
of Officials for the Land of Israel,” whose representatives in the Land
of Israel doubled as the community’s representatives vis-à-vis the
Ottoman government.48 As one would expect, the Jewish community
was weakened by the involvement of the Diaspora leaders, whether
in Istanbul, Eastern Europe, or Amsterdam, and by the tendency to
involve Ottoman government officials and attempt to sway them one
way or the other. Against this background, R. Mena§em Mendel of
Vitebsk and his colleagues found themselves in a power struggle with
the established leadership of the Ashkenazi community in Safed and
with the heads of the Sefardi community. The battles were accompanied by mutual attacks and by complaints to the communities in
the Diaspora, such as R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s charge that
the Sefardim in Safed were “completely wicked, believers in Shabbetai
47
See Barnai 1992, pp. 109–160, 170–177. For detailed studies about the Jewish
community under the Ottoman Empire, see above, pp. 160–164.
48
“The Istanbul Committee of Officials” was established after a long and severe
economical crisis that befallen the Jewish communities of the Land of Israel. See
Barnai 1992, pp. 71–73. Barnai points out that the same poor conditions led the
Christian minorities in Palestine—the Catholics, the Greeks and the Armenians—
to develop similar patterns of economical and political dependency on their communities abroad, which weakened the authority of local leaders.
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Çevi, may his name be erased.”49 The rivalries distressed and enervated him, and he ultimately decided to leave Safed and settle in
Tiberias, where only a few Ashkenazim had previously lived.
R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s decision to move to Tiberias
was made easier by the fact that, soon after arriving in the Land of
Israel, he married off his son Moses to “Señora Yokheved,” daughter
of a prominent Sefardi family, “of the worthy and elite of Jerusalem
and of the Sefardim who are there,”50 and related to the Sefardi
rabbinic leader in Tiberias. These factors suggest a degree of substance to the nevertheless unproven tradition that the bride belonged
to the Abulafia family. Behind the match lay practical considerations—the desire of R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk to forge familial ties with the Sefardim and, especially, to gain a foothold in
Tiberias.
In the month of Shevat 5539 (1779), R. Mena§em Mendel of
Vitebsk along with several members of the group, apparently including R. Abraham of Kolyshki, left Safed for Tiberias. Shortly before
that, R. Solomon Chelmo, formerly rabbi of Lvov, had left Tiberias.
The hostility between him and R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk can
readily be seen in one of the latter’s letters;51 and when R. Solomon
Chelmo left Tiberias, R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk settled in his
vacated residence.
R. Mena§em Mendel was pleased at the warm reception he was
afforded in Tiberias—which contrasted with the hostility that had
been shown by the residents of Safed—but it did nothing to alleviate his deepening depression, for the Land of Israel had been afflicted
by famine since his group’s arrival. The price of wheat soared, and
the immigrants’ economic situation went from bad to worse. They
consumed all their assets and carried a growing burden of interest
on the loans they were forced to take. The bitter fights with the
established Ashkenazi community and the leaders of the Sefardi community in Safed over the allocation of charitable funds to the immigrants were played out against that background. The conflicts led
R. Mena§em Mendel to decide that he had to organize a separate
levy for the members of his group and give up dependence on the
49
50
51
Ibid., letter 15, pp. 84–85.
Ibid., letter 11, p. 68.
See ibid., letter 15, p. 87.
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existing sources of charitable funds, administered by the established
residents of the Land. To that end, three rabbinic emissaries were
dispatched in 5538 (1778) or 5539 (1779). R. Israel of Polotsk and
R. Elazar (Eliezer) Zussman were sent to Istanbul and thence to
Holland, to the Ashkenazi communities of The Hague and Amsterdam,
which were a regular source of support for the residents of the Land
of Israel. R. Solomon Zalman Vilner was sent to Vilnius and to
Brody.52 His mission, however, was not only to raise funds and organize a system of regular support; evidently, he was sent as well to
meet face-to-face with R. Ye§iel Mikhel and the rest of the group
to coordinate with them the actions to be taken upon the appearance of the signs expected to be revealed in the Galilee in the month
of Iyyar 5541 (April–May 1781).
Nisan-Iyyar 5541 (March–May 1781)
R. Solomon Zalman Vilner’s mission met with success. Shortly before
the month of Nisan 5541 (March–April 1781), he returned to Tiberias
“bearing letters and legal decisions from Your Honors, with the
approbation of the Gaon (lit. ‘genius’; an honorific for a very prominent rabbi), the venerable rabbi; and the approbations of the collectors of funds for the Land of Israel in Brody to remedy the past
by canceling the obligations of individuals and the congregation . . . But
even that will be a small matter in the eyes of God and man, and
they spoke to the house of their distant servant to provide me my
appropriate allotment of food from year to year.”53 Under the influence
of the group’s members in Brody, R. flayyim Segal Landau, the
fundraiser for the Land of Israel and head of the Brody kloyz, agreed
to discharge all the debts accumulated by the immigrants since their
arrival in the Land of Israel and to grant R. Mena§em Mendel of
Vitebsk an annual allocation. It is noteworthy that R. flayyim Segal
Landau was not the only kabbalist of the Brody kloyz to support the
messianic program of R. Ye§iel Mikhel and his colleagues; other
prominent kabbalists in the kloyz provided approbations for the books
of Lurianic kabbalah printed by R. Ye§iel Mikhel’s disciples in Korets
52
53
See Stiman-Katz 1986, p. 98; Morgenstern 1999, pp. 241–252, 351–360.
Barnai 1980, letter 15, p. 85.
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around that time.54 The fundraisers for the Land of Israel in the
Vilnius community also joined in support; one of them—R. Samuel
b. R. flayyim Shabtels, a relative of R. Elijah, the Gaon of Vilnius—
was R. flayyim Segal Landau’s son-in-law.55
The encouraging news restored R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s
spirits; three and one-half years after arriving in the Land of Israel,
he finally saw the enterprise bearing fruit. He expressed his heartfelt hopes for redemption in two coded letters that he wrote in the
months of Nisan and Iyyar 5541 (March–May 1781). The first was
headed “Epistles of Good Tidings from Our Holy Rabbis Who Are
in the Land of Israel”;56 in it, R. Mena§em Mendel emphasizes that
he was a herald of good tidings: “The praises of God I call out . . . I
herald and say . . . the words of this epistle of good tidings.” One
can discern in the letter’s opening the writer’s special relationship
with the addressees, whom he speaks of in terms of affection and
intimacy, such as “men of quality, men of renown, our dear friends.
My beloved, my soul-friends engraved on my heart.” His words suggest that the great distance separating them physically does not vitiate their intimacy, which is built on a spiritual linkage that transcends
space and time.
The letter exudes an air of readiness and anticipation, beginning
with its poetic opening: “The praises of God I call out; I declare
his name to my brethren. In the midst of a great assemblage I praise
God with song and magnify with gratitude the house of God. Those
who desire righteousness sing and rejoice; the pious ones exult in
the glory of the Name that is magnified, sanctified and exalted by
them.”57 Immediately thereafter, R. Mena§em Mendel turns to a
detailed account of the group’s experiences since arriving in the Land
of Israel: “Until now, I did not want to distress my lovers and friends,
but now it is my obligation to tell.” He emphasizes the miracles that
took place: the departure of R. Solomon Chelmo, “who was expelled
[from Tiberias] by Heaven, not by human intervention”; his becoming established in Tiberias where “God be blessed, all the Sefardim
54
See above, pp. 130–140; 150–151.
See Morgenstern 1999, pp. 241–252. In a letter written in 5547 (1787), the
flasidim in Tiberias thank R. flayyim Landau of Brody and R. Samuel of Vilnius
for their support. See Barnai 1980, letter 40, p. 171.
56
Barnai 1980, letter 15, p. 84.
57
Ibid.
55
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surrendered to me”; and the success of R. Solomon Zalman Vilner
in Vilnius and Brody, which R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk saw
as “a miracle within a miracle” and “the beginning of redemption.”
In passing, R. Mena§em Mendel extols the commandment to go on
immigration to the Land of Israel and describes the torments suffered
by the immigrants as “the torments of the Land of Israel,” noting
that “for one with true intentions, the Sages of blessed memory compared the Land of Israel to Torah and to the World to Come, which
are impossible [to achieve] except through ordeals.” He was referring to the statement of R. Simeon b. Yo§ai: “The Holy One blessed
be He gave Israel three good gifts, but they were given only through
torments, and they are the Torah, the Land of Israel, and the World
to Come.”58
The immigration to the Land of Israel is thus depicted as the start
of the redemption. Its torments are the ordeals that purify the immigrants and wipe away their sins, making them ready to greet the
Messiah. R. Mena§em Mendel sees these tribulations as atonement
for the sins of all Israel, for “we suffered such torments that all who
serve God were exempted through our torments.”59 As for R. Mena§em
Mendel himself, the torments were intended to free him from his
bodily chains and prepare him to receive the special “Message” about
to be revealed in the Land of Israel:
And I am confident that, God willing, we will have a message about it
this year. And therefore, everyone one of those who love me who has
it in mind to approach the inner sanctum and settle in the Holy Land
should write to me. And, God willing, I will inform you clearly next year,
God willing. And were it not for the ordeals, how I would long for my
friends, colleagues, brethren, and fellows to come to the Holy Land.
We would assemble together in happiness and joy, trembling in His
service, may He be blessed. But at the outset, one cannot be assured
of withstanding the trials . . . though I will stand on my watch. For I
have confidence in God that we have already spent the time needed
to gain possession of the Holy Land. And the tribulations we have
58
Berakhot 5a. See also Fruit of the Land by R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk, Portion
Shela§ Lekha 18a—“Even a fully righteous man cannot ascend except by means of
renunciation [of the physical] and devotion and his entire body must certainly be
wiped away, and this applies equally to Torah, the Land of Israel, and the World
to Come, for there may not be the least bit of corporeality, even the size of a mustard seed, for all three are beyond [physical] attributes.” See also Mekhilta de-Rabbi
Ishmael, p. 227; Bud and Flower, chap. 10, 36b; Sursky 2000, vol. 1, p. 455.
59
Barnai 1980, letter 15, p. 86.
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endured are sufficient for all those who wish to partake of God’s patrimony in truth. And, God willing, after [gaining] the message, I will inform
you.
R. Mena§em Mendel saw himself as a messenger—“one dispatched
by the provincial officers to the palace of the king”—standing watch
in the Land of Israel, and he overlooked nothing related to “the
repair (tiqqun) of the province, in all respects, physical and spiritual.”
He tied the “Message” that would be revealed to the desire of some
colleagues in the Diaspora to go on immigration: “My beloved,
brethren, and fellows, I have heard, with the help of God, may He
be blessed, that R. flayyim of Krasnow and several more God-fearing men wish to come. God forbid they should be compelled, but
let them come in joy.” Though encouraging his colleagues to join
him, he requested them to be patient until the matter of the tiqqun—
“the repair of the province” in matters of “the body” and “the soul,”
that is, tiqqun of the nation and its redemption in the Land of Israel—
was revealed and clarified. In the course of doing so, he pledged
that “I will stand on my watch,” particularly with respect to all matters related to “my dear ones who love me, who in reality are with
me always, engraved on my heart, both in my prayers and in my
withdrawal in my house, in all their affairs.”
Aryeh Morgenstern observed that the expression “I will stand on
my watch” is borrowed from the words of the prophet Habakkuk,
which were used by Immanuel flai Ricchi in his End-reckonings: “I
will stand on my watch . . . And God answered me, saying ‘. . . for
there is yet a vision for the appointed time, a witness to the end
that will not lie. Though it tarry, await it; for it will surely come,
it will not delay.’” (Hab. 2:1–3.) Morgenstern inferred from this that
the unique “Message” anticipated by R. Mena§em Mendel was notice
of the revelation of the Messiah in the month of Iyyar 5541 (April–May
1781), in accordance with Immanuel flai Ricchi’s reckonings.60
But the expression “a vision for the appointed time” suggests that
R. Mena§em Mendel assured his colleagues that the vision—as distinct from the event itself—would come at the appointed time, that
is, in Iyyar 5541 (April–May 1781). The epistle, accordingly, provided
tidings of the tidings.
60
See Morgenstern 1999, pp. 199–204.
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The vision indeed appeared on time. Evidence to that effect is
provided by the ensuing letter, sent from Tiberias in Iyyar 5541
(April–May 1781), during the week of Lag be-Omer.61 This letter,
too, was written in code, interchanging singular and plural. For
example, the letter was addressed to R. Isaiah of Dunayevtsy, even
though it was written to the entire group. Conversely, the rabbinic
emissary who transported the letter is alternately referred to in singular and plural: “Our friends and associates, rabbinic emissaries
from the Land of Israel, Sages, [God-] fearing and perfect men, who
delivers this writing.”62
As for substance, the letter is very short and its content obscure,
but the occasion on which it was written affords it special meaning.
On Lag be-Omer, the Ari had the practice of gathering with his
disciples at the grave of R. Simeon b. Yo§ai in the Village of Meron
and conducting the “nuptials (hillula) of R. Simeon b. Yo§ai,” a symbolic ritual representing the heavenly ascent of R. Simeon b. Yo§ai
for a nuptial ceremony with the shekhinah. It is no coincidence that
in the month of Iyyar 5541 (April–May 1781)—the appointed time
of redemption according to Immanuel flai Ricchi’s calculations—
and during the week of Lag be-Omer, R. Mena§em Mendel of
Vitebsk received the “Message,” and a tone of fulfilled expectations
emerges from between the lines of his letter:
My very essence and nature and the causes of God’s redeeming us
will emerge explicitly from the mouth of our friends and associates,
rabbinic emissaries from the Land of Israel, Sages, [God-]fearing and
perfect men, who delivers this writing, to interpret and recount miracles and wonders. And God’s kindnesses are with us always, such that
the mouth wearies of recounting them, but we have placed in their
mouths all our needs and requests . . . and we must stand on the sacred
watch to pray for him at the holy places; we are fortunate, praise be
to the blessed God.
Despite the deliberate obscurity, it can be understood that R. Mena§em
Mendel of Vitebsk sent tidings to his colleagues that within himself—
61
The letter was first published by Abraham Joshua Heschel. See Heschel 1952,
p. 123: “With the help of God, here in the holy city of Tiberias, may it be built
and established speedily in our day, [the week of ] Be-Har-Be-fluqqotai . . . in the year
541 (omitting the thousands figure).” The Torah portions of Be-Har and Be-fluqqotai
were read the week of Lag be-Omer, 18 Iyyar, which fell on Sunday in 5541 (1781).
62
Ibid., ibid.; Barnai 1980, letter 16, p. 89.
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“my very essence and nature (mahuti ve-eikhuti)”63—conditions were
ripe for receiving the Message. He did not detail how it had come
about, but chose his words carefully: “the causes of God’s redeeming us will emerge explicitly from the mouth of our friends,” that
is, the rabbinic emissary sent to meet face to face with the members of the group. The emissary, R. Joseph b. Jacob,64 was to detail
the special instructions that had to be precisely followed.
Reading the two letters together, one can understand that the content of “the Message” is tied to completion of the tiqqun now assigned
jointly to the group’s members both in the Land of Israel and in
the Diaspora. In the earlier letter, R. Mena§em Mendel advised his
colleagues that the tribulations of the Land of Israel were ordeals
that had purified him and made him fit to receive “the Message”—
to gather the images of the group’s members in the Diaspora as if
they were standing before him and to serve as a conduit for the
transmission of their prayers. And now he is telling them that he
has received “the information” and that he is equipped to gather
their prayers and transmit them via “the Gate of Heaven.” In effect,
these matters were already hinted at between the lines of R. Abraham
of Kolyshki’s supplement to the earlier letter: “And I requested [that
you] pray to and entreat God on my behalf. And I will do the same.
And the Master of Peace will bless them with the three-fold blessing. And he will give us the privilege of arising and going up to
Beth-El and there we shall find him.”65
Another way to understand what is encoded in the letter is to
assume that “the information” deals with one step of the redemption, perhaps the resurrection of the dead. R. Mena§em Mendel
may have interpreted Estori ha-Parhi’s comment that “resurrection
of the dead will be advanced by forty years in Tiberias” not in its
simple sense but as referring to forty days, rather than forty years.66
For that reason, he and his colleagues frequented the graves of the
righteous and prayed near them, and at the start of the month of
63
On the meaning of the term “mahuti ve-eikhuti” see also Barnai 1980, letter 39,
p. 166: “As if their image stands before me to recognize their appearance through
the revelation of their heart, their very essence and nature (mahutam ve-eikhutam).”
64
The rabbinic emissary R. Joseph b. Jacob died during his mission and was
buried in Ostrog in Sivan 5542 (1782). See Biber 1907, p. 186; Ya'ari 1951, p. 612.
65
Barnai 1980, letter 15, p. 88.
66
See Rosh Ha-Shanah 2b—“For we say that one day in a year counts as the
[entire] year.”
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Nisan, forty days before Lag be-Omer, they began to await signs of
resurrection. It is possible as well that he read Estori ha-Par§i’s
comment together with a tradition in the Zohar that the ingathering
of the exiles will begin forty years before the resurrection of the
dead. Blending the two traditions permits one to conclude that at
Tiberias, the ingathering of the exiles and resurrection of the dead
would occur at about the same time—according to R. Mena§em
Mendel’s belief, the month of Iyyar 5541 (April–May 1781). Either
way, R. Mena§em Mendel evidently saw in a vision that the resurrection of the dead was about to begin, and his letter heralded the
event.
Alas, it was in vain. The dead were not resurrected, and the
Messiah did not come. In the months of Av and Elul 5541 ( July–
September 1781), there began a series decrees banning R. Ye§iel
Mikhel and his disciples. Near his house in Brody, his opponents
burned the book Joseph is a Fruitful Son, including the Besht’s Epistle,
and on 25 Elul 5541 (September 15, 1781), R. Ye§iel Mikhel died.
In the month of Tishri 5542 (1781), R. Meshullam Feibush Heller
wrote to R. Joel and the other colleagues “who heed my voice67 who
are there that they should make great efforts in the worship of God,
may He be blessed, each and every one in accordance with his
strength.” He reported that the planned journey to the Land of Israel
had not been cancelled, for the members of the group in the Diaspora
believed that what had happened had been for the best, and that
these were the tribulations that were to precede the coming of the
Messiah:
But now, according to what appears and what is heard of the journey, many good people are journeying to the Holy Land . . . and it is
certainly a great inquiry about Zion, of which none inquire, and it is
inquire, inquire, return, come.68 And now, this great awakening is certainly from God, and the Messiah’s arrival is certainly imminent, its
time may He hasten, and God, may He be blessed, will hurry it speedily in our days, Amen Selah. Of this, who knows what a day may bring
and why should you be troubled by tomorrow’s troubles and especially about the troubles of this world . . . for you already know according to what is written in the writings of the Ari of blessed memory
67
Precious Gleanings (Lemberg 5552 [1792]) 26a, ( Jerusalem 5734 [1974]) 131a.
The Zolkow 5560 (1800) edition, 27a, reads “your voice.”
68
Cf. Isa. 21:12—“If you inquire, inquire; return, come.” Rashi interpreted it to
mean “If you seek your request to hasten the End, ‘return, come’—in repentance.”
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regarding clarifying the sanctity that becomes clearer each day, until
it becomes completely clear with the advent of the Messiah, speedily
and in our days.
To all appearances, the letter encompasses as well a question posed
to R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk with respect to prayer: should
one pray as usual in the synagogue, or should the prayers be modified
to conform to the Messianic era?
R. Meshullam Feibush Heller’s letter was not enthusiastically
received; the exalted, supremely confident tone so emphatically adopted
in R. Mena§em Mendel’s earlier letters does not appear in the
response he wrote in 5542 (1781). Instead, he struck a tone of disappointment and hopelessness, pleading with his colleagues not to
“fold [their] tents and rush to come to the Holy Land. [In doing
so], they actually try to extinguish fire with straw, for the burden of
making a living here is very great.” The few who can survive in the
Land of Israel are independently wealthy, able to leave their assets
“in some [other] community” and live off the return on their investments. He urged the other members of the group “for their own
good to abandon this idea and to decide to remain where they are.
And God, may He be blessed, will assist them.” As an alternative,
and as a source of spiritual support, he suggested concentration on
learning, prayer, and communion with God. And he added: “In considering your question about how to act at this time in the synagogue, which is very pressing, it is impossible to extend [the discussion].
God willing, if some traveler happens to go from here to there, I
will respond at length. But for now, I will be brief.” Immediately
thereafter, he detailed the spiritual response that is desirable “at this
time”—“a set time each day for the study of ethical writings,” and
so forth.69
We do not know why R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk responded
so bitterly to the hope expressed in R. Meshullam Feibush Heller’s
69
Barnai 1980, letter 17, p. 90. Some versions of the letter underwent censorship and the words “in the synagogue” were deleted. It should be noted that the
letter is undated, but in a letter written in 5543 (1783), R. Mena§em Mendel of
Vitebsk and R. Abraham of Kolyshki reiterated their pleas. See Barnai 1980, letter
19, p. 96: “And this, too, as we wrote last year—no man should leave his place.
Instead, brethren should help one another and say ‘Be strong.’” They are referring here to immigration to the Land of Israel and not, as some have erroneously
suggested, to journeys to visit various çaddikim. This letter shows that the directive
was first given in 5542 (1782).
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letter. It may be that the death of R. Ye§iel Mikhel and the absence
of any change in circumstances had led him to the simple conclusion that the time for redemption had been missed, and that he
therefore responded in a thoroughly negative manner. Nevertheless,
his ensuing letter shows that his despair was not absolute, and that
he chose to leave a glimmer of hope. The letter begins by reiterating the meaning of the group’s linkage via interchanging the image
of the çaddik with that of the members:
They should have steadfast knowledge that love for them is rooted in
our heart; and their souls, one and all, are tied to our soul. It is as
if their image is perpetually before us, to recall them favorably whenever we turn to the Lord God, [and] with great and eternal love to
call forth for them an overflow of blessing and success. And so, we
stand on this high ground, here in the Holy Land, [striving] to draw
toward Him, may He blessed, all who have the appetite and desire
to go after the Lord our God.70
In the body of the letter, R. Mena§em Mendel urged his colleagues
to maintain their community as a united group under common leadership. His reiteration of the linkage formula, with its interchanging
of the image of the çaddik with that of the members, may have been
intended to remind them that their common oath survived the death
of R. Ye§iel Mikhel. And so he added at the end of his letter:
And it is known to be a credit to your Torah that I have not despaired
of the kindness to us of the Creator, may He be blessed, in bringing
glory to the Holy Land. But I await and expect a time of grace, when
it will be clear in my mind, with God’s help, that the will of the
Creator, may He be blessed, approves your coming [here], and I will
let you know . . . and it will be when the time and season arrive. It
will rise with wings like a dove, flying and running to arrive, God willing, to join in the portion of God in the land of the living.71
Epilogue
In the year 5544 (1784), R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk and the
members of his group in Tiberias leased a large court with spacious
houses and established a synagogue in one of them.72 That tempo-
70
71
72
Ibid., letter 18, p. 92.
Ibid., p. 94.
See ibid., letter 20, p. 99.
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rary respite did not relieve their continuing hardship, however, and
they seemed to have reached a dead end. To feed their families,
they had to borrow against the charitable distribution funds, and if
there were a delay in the rabbinic emissary’s return, or if he returned
with less funding than had been anticipated, their allocation would
have to be used to pay the debt and once again they would be left
with no means of support. Even the personal allotment of R. Mena§em
Mendel, which was not used by his family but was dedicated to
communal needs, was of no avail. R. Solomon Zalman Vilner reported
that “in the house of the rabbi, they live penuriously . . . and our
lord, teacher, and rabbi, the gaon, may his lamp illuminate, finds it
difficult to make any extra expenditure, for his eyes and actions
[consider] only matters that affect Israel as a whole and the service
of God.”73
Winter 5546 (1786) saw an outbreak of plague in Safed. The
flasidim who lived there abandoned their property and fled to Tiberias.
When the epidemic reached Peqi'in, its Hasidic residents retreated
to a cave, and their homes were plundered. By Purim 5546 (1786),
the plague was rampant in Tiberias, and the members of the group
withdrew to their court for about four months, with no one entering
or leaving. Each Saturday toward evening, at the third meal of the
Sabbath, they gathered and recounted the praises of the çaddikim.
The stories crystallized into the kernel of In Praise of the Besht, stories
that include traditions from the earliest days of Hasidism about the
both the Besht himself and the Zolochev dynasty. The circumstances—
isolation in the face of plague—recall the circumstances in which
the stories in Boccaccio’s Decameron were created.74
With the onset of the plague, R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk
began to go into decline. In 5547 (1787), he acknowledged to his
colleagues how difficult it had become for him to write and explained
why he had stopped writing himself:
My sons, it is as if I have fathered you . . . be with me in my situation; never will I forget your kind attentions, for with them you have
preserved my life. Even in old age, no height or breadth or horse and
chariot shall separate us, but my strength now is not like my strength
73
Ibid., letter 28, p. 136.
See In Praise of the Besht (ed. Rubenstein), “Publisher’s Introduction,” pp. 23–26;
Gries 1992, p. 105. On a related phenomenon, the similarity between the tales of
the Decameron and a story told by the Besht, see Dan 1975/2, pp. 40–46.
74
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then with respect to detailed letters, and confining my thought to [focus
on] the act of writing is something I cannot bear.75
Thereafter, he wrote no more, and the letters sent in his name were
written by R. Abraham of Kolyshki. In the month of Av 5547 (1787),
he took ill; the symptoms—attacks of shivering and fever—suggest
he contracted malaria. On Yom Kippur of 5548 (September 22,
1787), he rose from his sickbed and managed to come to the synagogue. At the closing (Ne'ilah) prayer, his colleagues heard him “cry
out in a bitter voice”76 the verse “Return, return from your evil
ways; why should you die, O house of Israel” (Ezek. 33:11), and
they understood that R. Mena§em Mendel “recognizes himself marked
for death.” Their sense was consistent with the tradition, cited by
the printer of In Praise of the Besht, R. Israel Yaffee, that R. Mena§em
Mendel was punished for something that had occurred during the
plague epidemic, when the members of the group had withdrawn
to the court in Tiberias: “A certain elder was with him, a disciple
of the Besht, and he would recite the Besht’s praises. Once, on the
Sabbath, the rabbi, the Maggid, may the memory of the righteous
and holy one be for a blessing, appeared in a dream to the foregoing rabbi [that is, to R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk] and said
to him, ‘Are you not my disciple; why do you not recite my praises
as well?’”77 R. Mena§em Mendel agreed, but when he attempted,
at the conclusion of the Sabbath, to recite the praises of “the Maggid,”
the elder began to recite the praises of the Besht, and R. Mena§em
Mendel fell silent. “Immediately, the rabbi [R. Mena§em Mendel]
recognized that he would certainly be punished.”
The key to these two traditions lies concealed in chapter 33 of
Ezekiel, a verse from which, incorporated into the closing prayer,
was shouted out by R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk on Yom Kippur.
The chapter deals with the sins of the generation and portrays
the prophet as a watchman assigned to alert the House of Israel to
the punishments in store for them—death by sword or by plague.
If the watchman becomes careless and fails to issue the alert, the
75
Barnai 1980, letter 39, p. 167. Cf. Ps. 2:7—“I will tell of the decree: the Lord
said to me you are My son, this day have I fathered you.” (With respect to “never
will I forget your attentions,” cf. Ps. 119:93, where “piqudekha,” here rendered “kind
attentions,” refers to God’s precepts.—translator’s note).
76
Ibid., letter 45, p. 182.
77
In Praise of the Besht (ed. Rubenstein), “Publisher’s Introduction,” p. 24.
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sinner will die for his sin, “but I will hold the watchman to account
for his blood” (Ezek. 33:6). R. Mena§em Mendel saw himself as the
watchman who had failed to carry out his assignment: he had stood
watch in the Land of Israel but his letters to the Diaspora instilled
in his associates a vain sense of hope instead of warning them that
the time was not one of grace and that they were not on the threshold of redemption. His crying out reflected his sense that his prophecy
had led the members of the group astray and brought about the
death of R. Ye§iel Mikhel, as well as his recognition that the sins
of the generation had impeded the redemption.
On the festival of Purim, R. Mena§em Mendel briefly regained
his strength and came to the synagogue to hear the reading of the
Book of Esther. But that was the last time he rose from his sickbed, and his body “was so thin and his flesh so emaciated as to
almost be inhuman.”78 Before dying, he made his colleagues swear
to extend true kindness to him and see to the support of his family,
so that his son would not have to leave the Land of Israel in pursuit of a living. He explicitly stated that if his son Moses were required
to leave the Land of Israel, he would cease “advocating for them in
the afterworld.”79
On the second day of the New Moon (the first day of the month)
of Iyyar 5548 (May 6, 1788), R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk died.
He had lived eleven years in the Land of Israel and died at the age
of fifty. With his departure from the scene, disputes over R. Ye§iel
Mikhel’s legacy broke out among his disciples, the members of the
original court—among others, between R. Shneur Zalman of Lyady
and Rabbi Abraham of Kolyshki, who wanted to exercise leadership
from Tiberias over the group. The conflicts led to a schism within
the branch of the group in the Land of Israel, between those originating from Reisen and those native to Volhynia-Galicia. After a
lengthy period of disagreement, the two groups established separate
fund-raising efforts in 5556–5557 (1796–1797). R. Ye§iel Mikhel’s
eldest son, R. Joseph of Yampol,80 together with R. Mordecai of
Nesukhoyezhe,81 a prominent disciple of R. Ye§iel Mikhel, took on
the task of raising funds in the Diaspora for the Volynhia-Galicia
78
79
80
81
Barnai 1980, letter 43, p. 177.
Ibid., letter 45, p. 182.
See Heschel 1952, pp. 128, 130.
See Stiman-Katz 1986, pp. 109–110.
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group. After R. Joseph’s death, the role of fundraisers for the Land
of Israel was assumed by R. Abraham Joshua Heschel of Opatow
and R. Ye§iel Mikhel’s fifth son, R. Mordecai of Kremenets.82
R. Abraham of Kolyshki died in 5570 (1810). During his twentytwo-year leadership of the flasidim in Tiberias and Safed, only a
few immigrants had joined the community, apparently members of
R. Ye§iel Mikhel’s original group.83
The year 5574 (1814) saw the first printing of Fruit of the Land,
R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s book. The publisher was R. Israel
Yaffee, known by the sobriquet “the Printer of Kapost.”84 A year
later, he printed In Praise of the Besht for the first time. Around 5579
(1819), he immigrated to the Land of Israel with his wife Shprinça
and their children. The Yaffees settled in Hebron and were among
the founders of the flabad charitable organization that operated
there until the community was ended by the riots of 5689 (1929).85
They were joined in their immigration by the print shop workers
and their families, who brought their printing machinery as well. When
they disembarked at Acco, however, they were set upon by bandits
who looted their property and destroyed the machines. R. Israel
Yaffee’s plan to establish a modern printing house in the Land of
Israel was thus shattered, but family tradition tells that he was the
first Jew to plant a vineyard in Hebron.
82
See Heschel 1952, pp. 130–131; Tanenbaum 1986, pp. 296–298.
In 5555 (1795), R. Issakhar Ber of Zolochev, R. Issakhar Ber of Zaslov, and
R. Jacob Samson of Shipitovka, together with his son and with his son-in-law,
R. Israel Judah b. R. flayyim of Krasnow, all immigrated. In doing so, R. Israel
Judah carried out the wishes of his father. R. Ze’ev Wolf of Chernyy Ostrov, apparently related to R. Meshullam Feibush Heller by the marriage of their children,
immigrated in 5558 (1798), and R. flayyim Tirrer, another prominent disciple of
R. Ye§iel Mikhel, immigrated in 5574 (1814). See Barnai 1980, letter 60, pp.
229–230; Stiman-Katz 1986, p. 47.
84
See In Praise of the Besht (ed. Rubenstein), “Introduction,” pp. 9–16.
85
See Avishar 1970, p. 215.
83
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APPENDIX III
FAMILY TREE
The Family of R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk
R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk immigrated to the Land of Israel
with the members of his family. His son, his son- or sons-in-law,
and his grandsons are mentioned in the margins of his letters in
such terms as “my delightful son, my son(s)-in-law, and my delightful
grandsons all hope you are well.”1 Of all the men in the family,
only his son Moses and grandson Samuel are mentioned by name,
for it was they on whom he pinned his hopes—especially his grandson Samuel, born in the Land of Israel of Moses’ marriage to a
woman of distinguished Sefardic lineage.
R. Mena§em Mendel’s sons-in-law are known by name only through
their signatures. A letter sent in 5546 (1786), after the outbreak of
plague in Safed, bears the signatures of the survivors who escaped
from Safed to Tiberias, including “and the statement of Jacob, son
of the rabbi our master the rabbi Aaron, may his memory be for a
blessing, son-in-law of the rabbi.”2 A similar letter of that year, sent
after the spread of the epidemic in Tiberias, was again signed by
the survivors, including “and the statement of Dov Ber, son of our
master the rabbi Azriel, son-in-law of the rabbi.”3 We thus learn of
two sons-in-law of “the rabbi”: Jacob b. Aaron, who likely lived first
in Safed and settled in Tiberias after the epidemic, and Dov Ber b.
Azriel.
The women of the family are not mentioned in R. Mena§em
Mendel of Vitebsk’s epistles even obliquely. The only one alluded
to, apropos a report of her marriage, is the daughter of a Sefardic
1
Barnai 1980, letter 39, p. 168; Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 115. See also Barnai
1980, letter 31, p. 147; letter 39, p. 163.
2
Barnai 1980, letter 30, p. 144; Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 102.
3
Ms. Jerusalem 8 903; Barnai 1980, letter 33, p. 151. In Gleaned Statements (Liqqutei
Amarim) (ed. Schmerler), vol. 2, 20b and Sursky 2000, vol. 2., p. 105, the reading
is “son-in-law of the rabbi, may he live [long].”
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family from Jerusalem, who married R. Mena§em Mendel’s son
Moses in 5538 (1778).4 It is generally assumed, though unproven,
that she was of the Abulafia family.
Only after R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s death did his associates write from Tiberias that his daughter had died shortly before
his own passing, leaving two children—a six-month-old infant and
a seven-year-old daughter. The orphans were left in the care of their
maternal uncle Moses, for “their widowed father had to wander outside [the Land of Israel] to marry a suitable wife, and who knows
when he will return to reside in the Land.”5 It is known that the
son-in-law who departed after being widowed was R. Dov Ber b.
Azriel, later mentioned in a letter by R. Shneur Zalman of Lyady.
That letter informs us that R. Dov Ber promised to return to the
Land of Israel and requested at the outset the allocation promised
to R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s descendants.6
The names of the deceased daughter, of her mother, and of
R. Moses’ wife are known only from a later letter. In 5550 (1790),
R. Moses b. R. Mena§em Mendel asked his associates to mention
his family members in their prayers; in so doing, he identified them,
as is customary, by their mothers’ names: “I, Moses b. Sima; my
wife, Señora Yokheved, daughter of Sarah Rebecca Leah; my son
Samuel, may he live [long]; my daughter Leah Zisel, may she live
[long]; my niece Bryna, daughter of Zisel, may she live [long].”7 We
see that R. Moses’ wife was named Yokheved, his mother (the widow
of R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk) was named Sima (perhaps a
variant of Sim§ah), and his deceased sister was named Zisel. It
appears as well that Zisel’s infant son did not survive; only her daughter Bryna remained alive.
In 5552 (1792), R. Moses and his wife Yokheved arranged for
their son Samuel to marry the daughter of R. Na§man of Bratslav,
who was then residing in the Land of Israel, but the boy died before
the wedding.8 In 5559 (1799), R. Moses b. R. Mena§em Mendel of
Vitebsk died.9 We do not know when his daughter, Leah Zisel, or
his niece, Bryna, died or whether they left descendants.
4
5
6
7
8
9
See Barnai 1980, letter 11, pp. 67–68.
Barnai 1980, letter 44, p. 180.
See Hillman 1953, p. 44.
Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 172.
See In Praise of R. Na§man (Shiv§ei ha-Ran), sec. 32.
See Avishar 1973, p. 303; Sursky 2000, vol. 1, p. 143.
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As for the second son-in-law—R. Jacob b. Aaron—we know nothing of his fate or that of his wife, daughter of “the rabbi.” According
to a tradition of the Karlin §asidim, R. Jacob was the son of R. Aaron
“the great” of Karlin.10 The historian flaya Stiman-Katz accepted
that premise but surmised that R. Jacob was the son-in-law not of
R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk but of R. Abraham of Kolyshki.
As she saw it, “Only two of the §asidim in Tiberias in those years
were called “rabbi”: R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk and R. Abraham
of Kolyshki.”11 And since the members of the group report only on
the fate of the son-in-law R. Dov Ber b. Azriel, who departed the
Land of Israel and left behind orphans needing support, she assumed
that R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk had only that one son-in-law
and that R. Jacob, “son-in-law of the rabbi” was the son-in-law of
R. Abraham of Kolyshki. Stiman-Katz herself questioned the second
part of her hypothesis, however, and wrote that it needed additional
proof. In so doing, she may have recognized that R. Abraham of
Kolyshki never refers to a son-in-law in his letters, mentioning only
his son and grandson. Moreover, R. Jacob’s signature shows that qùùa
(a-q) is the abbreviation for his father’s name, not his father-in-law’s.
Those who take the view that the father-in-law’s name is qùùa (a-q)—
for Abraham Karliner12 or Abraham Kolyshkier—confuse it with a
possible abbreviation for the father—Aaron Karliner or Aaron the
Holy (aharon ha-qadosh).
And so, flaya Stiman-Katz’s basic observation—that the members
of the Hasidic group in Tiberias used the designation “the rabbi”
only for R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk or R. Abraham of Kolyshki—
in fact suggests the opposite conclusion: since R. Abraham of Kolyshki
had no son-in-law, it is fair to assume that R. Jacob b. Aaron was
the son-in-law of R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk, as was R. Dov
Ber b. Azriel. But that, of course, raises the question of why there
is no trace of R. Jacob, of his wife—a daughter of R. Mena§em
Mendel of Vitebsk—and of their children, if any. The mystery of
“the son-in-law of the rabbi” led me to investigate whether there
10
See Grossman 1943, p. 89. It is also possible that his cousin was R. Joel,
brother-in-law of R. Meshullam Feibush Heller and addressee of his letters, and
son of Moses of Korbin, the brother of R. Aaron “the great” of Karlin.
11
Stiman-Katz 1986, p. 46.
12
See Grossman 1943, p. 89; Schor 1986; Schor 1994, pp. 169, 175. (“Karliner”
and “Kolyshkier” are spelled in Hebrew with a ùq (qof ), represented in transliteration
as q—translator’s note.)
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might be some substance to my family’s tradition that we are the
descendants of R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk, born to his daughter and her husband, R. Jacob.
R. flayyim David “The Younger” (ha-Qatan)
My grandmother, flaya Altshuler of the Epstein family, may her
memory be for a blessing, was the firstborn daughter of flayyim
David Epstein and Pearl Zisel of the Yaffee family. Her mother’s
genealogy has long been known to us: Pearl (Peninah) was born in
Hebron, the great-granddaughter of Israel and Shprinça Yaffee, who
immigrated to the Land of Israel circa 5579 (1819). R. Israel Yaffee,
the printer of In Praise of the Besht, was “administrator of the holy
city of Hebron”13—a founder of the community of the flabad §asidim
in Hebron. The terms of Pearl’s marriage contract included an undertaking by her mother, Frayda Leah—widow of Israel Duber b.
Ephraim Yaffee—to provide the young couple one thousand groschen,
secured by her share in the flabad community fund. Our relatives
on the Yaffee side include the Galinsky, Ne’eman, Samuel, Weingarten,
Rokeia§, Alkali, Horowitz, and Friedman families. The Horowitz
family includes the Bostoner Rebbe, and the Friedman family are
descendants of the Maggid R. Dov Ber of Mezhirichi, to whom are
related as well the dynasty of Ruzhin-Sadgura admorim.14
My grandmother’s father, flayyim David Epstein, was born in
Tiberias in 5626 (1866). He was a colorful figure, full of life and
steeped in controversy and involved in a variety of businesses. Among
other things, he was among the first to open a pharmacy in PalestineLand of Israel, and he was engaged as well in brokering and purchasing land for settlement in the Golan Mountains and in the coastal
plan. Their marriage contract was signed in Safed in 5644 (1884),
when the intended couple were still very young, and the wedding
took place circa 5650 (1890). Soon after, flayyim David and Pearl
Epstein settled in Beirut, Lebanon, where their children were born.
The first, my grandmother, was born in 5654 (1894). As a child,
13
Avishar 1970, p. 215. See also above, pp. 192; 264–269.
The Yaffee family genealogy has been researched by Avivah Ne"eman, a member of the family; her work is still in manuscript.
14
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she experienced the life of the Hasidic community in Tiberias only
through abbreviated visits, for her father had abandoned the traditional way of life and her aunts likewise married children of the pioneers of the First Immigration (Aliyyah), the founders of Rosh Pinah
and Metullah. The Beirut of my grandmother’s youth was a Levantinecosmopolitan city; grandmother studied at a French Catholic school
and became friendly with people of the contemporary, Zionist immigration, who would stop in Beirut on their way to the Land of Israel,
and with young people from the Jewish settlements who had come
from the Land of Israel to Beirut to study at the American University
there. In the Epstein family of Beirut one spoke Yiddish with one’s
parents, French in school, Arabic with the neighbors, and Hebrew
with friends and cousins.
Yet my grandmother also knew quite a bit about her father’s
family. Accordingly, my reconstruction of our family’s chronology
began with her stories, supported by documents that she handed
down to my parents. These are consistent with the historical sources:
my grandmother’s father, flayyim David, was the son of Sarah and
R. Jacob Çevi Hirsch, himself the son of R. Mena§em Mendel
Epstein of Minsk. R. Mena§em Mendel Epstein reached Tiberias in
5594 (1834) while still a youth and became a civic leader, administrator of the Reisen community fund in Tiberias. His descendants
include the dynasty of Slonim admorim, members of the Weinberg
family.15 My grandmother recalled how the Tiberians had referred
to R. Mena§em Mendel Epstein: “the Reisisher” (from Reisen) or
“the Rushisher” (the Russian).
My grandmother told as well of one of her ancestors known as
“the Consul” who died in “the great tremor”—an earthquake that
hit Safed and Tiberias in 5597 (1837). Her cousin, Amihud Schwartz
of Rosh Pinah, may his memory be for a blessing, added more precisely that she was referring to R. flayyim David “the younger,”
who was head of the Reisen community fund in Tiberias and whose
signature appears prominently on various letters and documents.16
On one of these, “flayyim David “the younger,” head and administrator of the holy congregation of Russia in Tiberias, may it be
built and established,”17 was among the signatories of a special epistle
15
16
17
See Sursky 2000, vol. 1, p. 255.
See id., vol. 2, pp. 297–298.
Ya'ari 1971, p. 357. Similarly, Morgenstern 1985, p. 131.
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given by the leaders of the Land of Israel to the rabbinic emissary
R. Barukh, dispatched to Yemen in 5591 (1831) to find the ten lost
tribes. The other signatories were R. Israel of Shklov, prominent disciple of Gaon of Vilnious, who lived in Safed, and R. Aryeh, the
trustee of the fund of the Perushim in Jerusalem. R. flayyim David
“the younger’s” standing clarifies why my grandmother referred to
him as “the Consul”; the overseer of the charitable organizations or
funds of the Sefardi community was called “the Director” (ha-paqid),
and the head of the Ashkenazi funds was correspondingly called “the
Consul.”18
That R. flayyim David “the younger” was killed in an earthquake
is confirmed by the listing of quake victims sent to Amsterdam, which
mentions “the renowned rabbi flayyim David “the younger,” may
his memory be for a blessing, head and administrator of the holy
congregation of Russia.”19 To similar effect is the inscription on his
gravestone, preserved in the old cemetery of Tiberias: “Here lies the
rabbi, the pious one (he-§asid ), great in Torah, our master the rabbi
R. David “the younger,” son of the scholar, our master the rabbi
Jacob Judah, may his memory be for a blessing, killed in an earthquake 24 Tevet 5597 [1837], may his soul be bound up in the bond
of life.”20 A comparison of the inscription with written evidence shows,
among other things, that the name “flayyim,” given to one who
suffers a serious illness or other danger, was not given to flayyim
David “the younger” at birth but was added after 5577 (1817), and
therefore does not appear on his gravestone.
Moreover, the census of the Jews in the Land of Israel, undertaken at the initiative of Sir Moses Montefiore in 5599 (1839), notes
a five-year-old orphan, the daughter of the rabbi R. flayyim David,
may his memory be for a blessing, killed in an earthquake.21 Her
gravestone in Tiberias shows that she died in 5664 (1904) and that
her name was flaya Malkah.22 Similarly, my grandmother’s father
was named flayyim David and my grandmother was called flaya.
Thus, flayyim David Epstein (my great-grandfather) was the grandson,
18
R. flayyim David “the younger” may also have been the honorary consul of
a foreign government, in accordance with contemporary practice.
19
Lunz 1911, p. 161.
20
Sursky 2000, vol. 1, p. 115.
21
See Census of the Jews of the Land of Israel, p. 64.
22
See Sursky 2000, vol. 1, p. 115.
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on his mother’s side, of flaya Malkah, and he was named after her
father, flayyim David “the younger,” just as my grandmother was
named after her.
It must be stressed that flayyim David “the younger” should not
be identified with one of the immigrants (olim) of 5537 (1777) called
“David, he is “the younger,” the rabbi of the holy congregation of
Old Bukhov.”23 During the plague of 5546 (1786), R. David “the
younger” of Bukhov resided outside the Land of Israel, and when
the survivors of the plague were enumerated by name, the listing
included “R. Me’ir Bukhover and his entire household—alive . . . The
wife of the rabbi of Bukhov and his grandson—alive; accordingly,
do not defer coming.”24 After the plague of 5552 (1792), R. Abraham
of Kolyshki listed the survivors, among them “our master Neta with
his grandfather, the rabbi of Bukhov,”25 that is, R. David “the
younger“of Bukhov. It is thus clear that in 5546 (1786), R. David
of Bukhov had a grandson; and even if he had been blessed with a
grandson at an early age, say thirty-five, that would mean he was
born circa 5511 (1751). If he was still alive at the time of the 5597
(1837) earthquake, he would have been about eighty-six years old,
making it unlikely, to say the least, that he would have left a fiveyear-old orphan. It follows that among the §asidim of Tiberias two
men were known as David “the younger”: David, the rabbi of Old
Bukhov; and a younger man, flayyim David “the younger.”
R. Jacob b. Aaron, the Son-in-Law of the Rabbi
My family line led me back seven generations, to my grandmother’s
father’s great-grandfather, R. flayyim David “the younger” of Tiberias.
At that point, both human memory and family documents reach a
dead end, a consequence of the destruction wrought on the Tiberias
and Safed communities by both human and natural causes: the rebellion of the local peasants in 5594 (1834) and, three years later, “the
great earthquake.” Many orphans are mentioned without parents’
23
Barnai 1980, letter 52, p. 206; Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 159.
Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 104. Other versions omit the reference to the wife of
the rabbi of Bukhov and his grandson.
25
Wilensky 1988, p. 115; Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 179.
24
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names in the Montefiore census conducted two years after the earthquake. Some of them were raised by surviving members of the community, while others were sent to relatives in other cities or outside
the Land of Israel. The earthquake, which killed people and destroyed
homes, also tore the continuum of memory, so necessary to reconstructing a family history.
Beyond the gap in memory are two generations—R. Mena§em
Mendel of Vitebsk and his colleagues, and the generation of their
children. The gap can be bridged with information from the gravestone of R. flayyim David “the younger,” for its inscription identifies
his father as “the scholar, our master the rabbi Jacob Judah, may
his memory be for a blessing.” And the signature of “David b. Jacob
Judah” appears on five letters sent from the Land of Israel by members of R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s group:
5565 (1805)—“and the statement of David son of our master the
rabbi Judah Jacob, qùùharj (§-r-a-h-q), may his memory be for a
blessing.”26
5566 (1806)—“and the statement of David son of our master the
rabbi Judah Jacob, may his Rock protect and redeem him.”27
5571 (1811)—“the statement of David son of our master the rabbi
Judah Jacob, may his lamp illuminate, qùùharh (h-r-a-h-q), may the
memory of righteous be for a blessing.”28
5571 (1811)—“and the statement of David son of our master the
rabbi Judah Jacob qùùharm (m-r-a-h-q).”29
5577 (1817)—“and the statement of David son of our master Jacob,
wùùp [(parnas-warosh), councilor and head].”30
These signatures establish that David—that is, flayyim David “the
younger” —was the son of someone in the group that reached Safed
26
Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 250. (The abbreviations are explained below; here,
they are simply transliterated.)
27
Ibid., p. 260.
28
Barnai 1980, letter 80, p. 291. In some versions, ùj (§) is substituted for ùh (h),
and the abbreviation reads “qùùharj” (§-r-a-h-q). See Hillman 1953, p. 195; Sursky
2000, vol. 2, p. 275.
29
Ms. Jerusalem 8 903. The first letter of the abbreviation—ùm (m)—is blurred in
the manuscript. Cf. Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 284: “and the statement of David son
of our master the rabbi Judah Jacob, may his lamp illuminate, son-in-law of qùùhar
(r-a-h-q), may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing.”
30
Ms. Jerusalem 8 903. Cf. Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 293: “and the statement of
David son of our master Jacob, may his lamp illuminate.”
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and Tiberias in 5537 (1777) with R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk.
But who was his father, R. Jacob Judah? Whence did he suddenly
appear in 5565 (1805) among the association of Tiberias §asidim?
And what is the meaning of wùùp (an abbreviation for çarw snrp, “councilor and head”) as applied to someone not known to be among the
group’s leaders? These questions led me back to the mystery of
R. Jacob b. Aaron, “son-in-law of the rabbi,” who had disappeared
after 5546 (1786).
An examination of the various references to members of the Hasidic
group in Tiberias shows that three were called “Jacob”: Jacob haLevi b. Abraham Segal, Jacob b. Judah Goltsor, and Jacob Judah.
Clearly, R. Jacob b. Aaron, son-in-law of the rabbi, is not to be
identified with “the honorable rabbinic emissary, the wondrous and
venerable, our master the rabbi Jacob son of our master and teacher
Abraham Segal,”31 mentioned in a letter dated 5555 (1795), for the
latter’s father was Abraham, not Aaron. Nor is R. Jacob b. Aaron
“our master the rabbi Jacob Goltsor, may his lamp illuminate,”32 for
Jacob Goltsor was Jacob b. Judah, as shown by his signature on a
letter dated 5555 (1795): “the statement of Jacob, son of my lord,
my father, the honorable exalted Judah Goltsor.”33 The third Jacob
was Jacob Judah, father of flayyim David “the younger,” whose
father’s name, Aaron, is alluded to by abbreviations in three of the
five signatures listed above:
5565 (1805)—“and the statement of David son of our master the
rabbi Judah Jacob, qùùharh (§-r-a-h-q) [ha-rav aharon ha-qadosh; the
holy rabbi Aaron], may his memory be for a blessing.”
5571 (1811)—“the statement of, David son of our master the rabbi
Judah Jacob, may his lamp illuminate, qùùharh (h-r-a-h-q) [ha-rav
aharon ha-qadosh; the holy rabbi Aaron], may the memory of righteous be for a blessing.”
5571 (1811)—“and the statement of David son of our master the
rabbi Judah Jacob qùùharm (m-r-a-h-q) [moreinu rav aharon ha-qadosh;
our master the holy R. Aaron].”
31
Barnai 1980, letter 61, p. 231; Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 219.
Barnai 1980, letter 37, p. 159; Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 108.
33
Sursky 2000, vol. 2, p. 222. On the basis of signatures appearing on receipts
issued as a rabbinic emissary, Joshua Mondschein corrected his name from Koltser
to Goltser. See Mondschein 1992/2, pp. 295, 296.
32
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In some versions, to be sure, the signatures were copied corruptly
and the letter ùj [h] was replaced with ùh [§], but the fact remains
that all the details pertaining to “Jacob, son of the rabbi our master
the rabbi Aaron, may his memory be for a blessing, son-in-law of
the rabbi” correspond to what we know of R. Jacob Judah, father
of flayyim David “the younger,” the son (not the son-in-law) of the
holy R. Aaron: the grandfather’s name is Aaron; the father’s name
is Jacob, or Jacob Judah; and the son’s name is David, later flayyim
David.34
To all appearances, then, R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s lost
son-in-law, Jacob b. Aaron, is Jacob Judah. It follows that his son,
flayyim David “the younger,” was R. Mena§em Mendel’s grandson. If true, these family connections account for the high standing
of flayyim David “the younger” and for his appointment as head
of the Reisen fund in Tiberias after the last members of the founding generation had died. But that same fact makes it hard to fathom
why his father, Jacob Judah b. Aaron, stopped signing the group’s
letters from the Land of Israel and why we know nothing of him
for a period of nearly twenty years, from 5546 (1786) to 5565 (1805)—
when his son began to sign epistles though referring to his father
with the blessing for those still alive.
What happened to the son-in-law of the rabbi in the Land of
Israel? One possibility is that his wife died and he went on to remarry
in a match disapproved by the members of the group, who accordingly removed him from any influential positions. That may be
alluded to in the comment about the rabbi’s other son-in-law, R.
Dov Ber b. Azriel, who was widowed and “had to wander outside
[the Land of Israel] to marry a suitable wife.” It is possible as well
that he, too, left the Land of Israel or that the difficulties of living
there broke his spirit and made him a recluse, though still alive and
living in Tiberias. The documents do not speak to this point, and
we cannot know with any certainty.
But all that being as it may, I sometimes wonder: could it be that
through R. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s anonymous daughter and
forgotten son-in-law, his hope for his descendants never to leave the
Land of Israel was realized? For R. Hayyim David “the younger”
34
My thanks to Joshua Mondschein, librarian of the manuscript department of
the National Library in Jerusalem, for his help in explicating the abbreviations.
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was a central figure of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel
in the first half of the nineteenth century. His great grandchildren
married members of the traditional communities (the Tiberian families of Epstein, Weinberg and Toister), became part of the founding families of the First Immigration’s settlements—Rosh Pinah (the
Schwartz family), Metullah (the Belsky family), and Rehovot (the
Altshuler family)—and were among the founders of Kibbutz ha-Ogen
(the Bassan family).
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
The primary sources are in Hebrew. They are generally cited to the first printed
version. Where I could not do so, publication details are listed for the edition
I used, and information related to the first printed is set forth in square brackets.
When an English translation exists, its details are specified independently.
The primary sources are arranged by title in English alphabetical order as translated. The translation name is followed by a transliterated Hebrew in square brackets, the author’s name, and publication data.
The Sources cited in the text were quoted verbatim, including erroneous spelling
and printers’ errors. Where the errors interfered with understanding, I added the
correct spelling in square brackets. I likewise added, in square brackets, explanations of the abbreviations used in the sources and of difficult terminology, ambiguous antecedents, and Aramaic terms. The translations in the present edition have
been done on the basis of these explanations and clarifications, which are made
explicit only where necessary for the argument. In the translation, as in the original, emphasis in quotations is my own, unless otherwise indicated.
Abraham’s Swiftness [Zerizuta de-Avraham], Abraham Noa§ ha-Levi Heller, Lvov 5660
(1900).
Alphabet, Enlightening Letters [Alfa Beta Otiyot Ma§kimot] (printed from a ms. in the possession of Çevi Hirsch of Nadvorno), Berdichev 5577 (1817) [Breznits 5556 (1796)].
Alphabet, Enlightening Letters [Alfa Beta Otiyot Ma§kimot], In Testament of R. Israel Ba'al
Shem [Çava'at ha-Ribash], publication place lacking, 5554 (1794).
Banner of Ephraim’s Encampment [Degel Ma§aneh Efrayim], Ephraim of Sidlikov, Yuzepov
5643 (1883) [publication place lacking, apparently 5568 (1808)].
Beginning of Wisdom, complete edition [Reshit flokhmah ha-Shalem], Elijah de Vidash,
ed. and readied for printing by Hayyim Joseph Waldman, Jerusalem 5744 (1984)
[Venice 5339 (1579)].
Benjamin’s Portion [flelqat Binyamin], Benjamin of Zalozhtsy, Lvov 5554 (1794).
Benjamin’s Sack [Amta§at Binyamin], Benjamin of Zalozhtsy, Minkvits 5556 (1796).
Besht’s Epistle to R. Gershon of Kutov [Iggeret ha-Besht le-Rabbi Gershon mi-Qutov], In Joseph
is a Fruitful Son [Ben Porat Yosef ], Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye, Korets 5541 (1781),
100a–b.
Besht’s Epistle to R. Gershon of Kutov [Iggeret ha-Besht le-Rabbi Gershon mi-Qutov], In
R. Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (Besht): His Life, Doctrine, and Activity [R. Yisra’el Ba'al Shem
Tov (Besht): Hayyav, Shitato, u-Pe'ulato], Abraham Kahana, Zhitomir 5661 (1900),
100–102.
Besht’s Epistle to R. Gershon of Kutov [Iggeret ha-Besht le-Rabbi Gershon mi-Qutov], from
Ms. Jerusalem 8, 5979. In In Praise of the Besht [Shivhei ha-Besht], ms. facsimile,
Joshua Mondschein, Jerusalem 5742 (1982), 229–239.
Biography of Jacob Joseph [Toledot Ya'aqov Yosef ], Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye, Warsaw
5641 (1881) [Korets 5540 (1780)].
Book of Brightness [Sefer ha-Bahir], ed. Reuben Margaliot, Jerusalem 5711 (1951)
[Amsterdam 5411 (1651)].
Book of Brightness [The Bahir], trans. and commentary by Aryeh Kaplan, New Jersey
1995. (English)
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Book of Creation, with a Commentary by R. Saadiah Gaon [Sefer Yeçira im Peirush ha-Gaon
Rabbenu Sa'adyah], trans. and commentary by Joseph Kapah, Jerusalem 5732 (1972).
Book of Creation, With the Commentary “Secret Rose” [Sefer Yeçira im Peirush Shoshan Sodot],
Korets 5539 (1779).
Book of Creation [Sefer Yeçira], trans. and commentary by A. Peter Hayman, Tübingen
2004. (English)
Book of Kanah [Sefer ha- Kanah], Korets 5542 (1782); Korets 5544 (1784); Parichi 5546
(1786); Jerusalem 5758 (1998).
Book of the God-Fearing [Sefer flaredim], Elazar Azkari, Venice 5361 (1601).
Book of the Magnificent [Sefer ha-Mefo’ar], Solomon Molkho, Salonika 5289 (1529).
Book of Visions [Sefer ha-Hezyonot], Hayyim Vital, ed. Aaron Ze"ev Eshkoli, Jerusalem
5714 (1954) [ Jerusalem 5626 (1866)].
Book of Reincarnations [Sefer ha-Gilgulim], flayyim Vital, Frankfort 5444 (1684); Zolkow
5532 (1772); Zolkow 5534 (1774).
Booklet of the Holy [Ma§beret ha-Qodesh], flayyim Vital, Korets 5543 (1783).
Bud and Flower [Kaftor va-Fera§], Estori ha-Par§i, Berlin 5611 (1851) [Venice 5309
(1549)].
Census of the Jews of the Land of Israel [Mifqad Yehudei Eretz Yisra’el] (5599–1839) (per
Ms. Montefiore 528), introduction by Hadassah Asulin, ed. Çevi Baras, Jerusalem
5747 (1987).
Commentary on the Torah [Peirush al ha-Torah], Don Isaac Abarbanel, Jerusalem 5724
(1964).
Covenant of Eternal Priesthood [Berit Kehunat Olam], Isaac Eisik ha-Kohen of Korets,
Lemberg 5608 (1848) [Lvov 5556 (1796)].
Duties of the Heart [flovot ha-Levavot], Ba§ya ibn Pequda, Vilnius 5673 (1913).
The Duties of the Heart [flovot ha-Levavot], trans. and commentary by Yaakov Feldman,
New Jersey 1996. (English)
Entry to the Gates [Mevo She'arim], flayyim Vital, Korets 5543 (1783).
Epistle of Solomon ha-Levi Elqabetç [Iggeret Shelomo ha-Levi Elqabetç], In The Preacher of
Righteousness [Maggid Mesharim], Joseph Karo, ed. Aaron Sursky, Jerusalem 5720
(1960), 18–20.
Epistle of Solomon ha-Levi Elqabetç [Iggeret Shelomo ha-Levi Elqabetç], In Louis Jacobs,
Jewish Mystical Testimonies, New York 1976, pp. 99–104. (English)
Fruit of A Tree [Peri Ez], Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk, Zhitomir 5634 (1874).
Fruit of the Land [Peri ha-Aretç], Mena§em Mendel, Kapost 5574 (1814); Jerusalem
5749 (1989).
Fruit of the Tree of Life [Peri Eç flayyim], flayyim Vital, Korets 5542 (1782); Korets
5545 (1785); Korets 5546 (1786); Ostrog 5554 (1794).
Gate of Kavvanot [Sha'ar ha-Kavvanot], flayyim Vital, In Collected Writings of the Ari, may
his memory be for a blessing [Kol Kitvei ha-Ari z.l.], vols. 8–9, Jerusalem 5748 (1988)
[Salonika 5612 (1852)].
Gate of Prayer [Sha'ar ha-Tefillah], flayyim Tirrer, Sidilkov 5585 (1825).
Gate of Recompense [Sha'ar ha-Gemul], Moses Na§manides (Ramban), ed. David Aaron
Sofer, Jerusalem 5758 (1998).
Gate of the Holy Spirit [Sha'ar Ruah ha-Qodesh], flayyim Vital, In Collected Writings of
the Ari, may his memory be for a blessing [Kol Kitvei ha-Ari z.l.], vol. 10, Jerusalem
5748 (1988) [ Jerusalem 5623 (1863)].
Gates of Holiness [Sha'arei Qedushah], flayyim Vital, Istanbul 5494 (1734); Amsterdam
5505 (1745); Salzbach 5518 (1758); Zolkow 5540 (1780); Korets 5544 (1784);
Benei-Beraq 5733 (1973).
Gleaned Statements [Liqqutei Amarim], vol. 2, arranged and ed. Benjamin Schmerler,
Lemberg 5671 (1911) (printed from a ms. formerly in the possession of R. Mena§em
Mendel of Vitebsk).
Gleaned Statements: Tanya [Liqqutei Amarim Tanya], Shneur Zalman of Lyady, Brooklyn
5736 (1976) [Slovita 5556–5557 (1796–1797)].
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403
Gleaned Statements: Tanya [Liqqutei Amarim Tanya], Shneur Zalman of Lyady, Brooklyn
1965–1972. (English)
Glory of Uziel, Called the Good Tree of Knowledge [Tif "eret Uziel ha-Niqra be-Shem Eç haDa'at Tov], Uziel Meizlish, Warsaw 5622 (1862).
Glory of Çevi Ze"ev [Tif "eret Çevi Ze"ev], Çevi Ze"ev of Zbarazh, Lemberg 5656 (1896).
Glory to the Upright [Pe’er la-Yesharim], Israel of Ruzhin, Jerusalem 5681 (1921).
Golden Doves [Torei Zahav ], Benjamin of Zalozhtsy, Mohluv 5576 (1816); new edition ed. Jonathan Ze"ev Landau, Jerusalem 5749 (1989).
Good Circle [Ma"agal Tov], flayyim Joseph David Azulai, Jerusalem 5694 (1934).
Great Waters [Mayim Rabbim], Nathan Neta ha-Kohen of Kolbiel, Warsaw 5659
(1899).
He Imparts His Words to Jacob [Maggid Devarav le-Ya'aqov], Dov Ber of Mezhirichi,
Korets 5541 (1781).
He Imparts His Words to Jacob [Maggid Devarav le-Ya'aqov], Dov Bear of Mezhirichi,
critical edition with commentary, introduction and indices, Rivka Schatz-Uffenheimer,
Jerusalem 5736 (1976) [Korets 5541 (1781)].
Herald of Righteousness [Mevasser Çedeq], Issakhar Ber of Zolochev, Berdichev 5577
(1817) [Dubno 5558 (1798)].
Hidden Light [Or ha-Ganuz], Judah Leib ha-Kohen of Annopol, Lemberg 5626 (1866).
Hidden Treasures of Ram§al [Ginzei Ram§al], Moses flayyim Luzzatto, ed. Hayyim
Friedlander, Benei-Beraq 5740 (1980).
Holy Writiings [Kitvei Qodesh], Warsaw 5644 (1884) [Lemberg 5622 (1862)] (printed
from a ms. formerly in the possession of Israel of Kozienice).
Honest Words of Truth and Faith [Yosher Divrei Emet], Meshullam Feibush Heller,
Munkacz 5665 (1905).
House of Aaron [Beit Aharon], Aaron of Karlin, Brody 5635 (1875).
Illumination of the Eye and Let the Heart Rejoice [Me’or Einayim im Yisma§ Lev], Mena§em
Na§um of Chernobyl, Jerusalem 5735 (1975) [Slovita 5558 (1798)].
In Memory of This [Zikhron Zot], Jacob Isaac ha-Levi Horowitz, Munkacz 5702 (1942)
[Warsaw 5629 (1869)].
In Praise of R. Nahman [Shiv§ei ha-Ran], Na§man of Bratslav, Lvov 5624 (1864).
In Praise of the Besht first edition, [Shiv§ei ha-Besht], printed by Israel Yaffee, Kapost
5575 (1815).
In Praise of the Besht Mintz: [Shiv§ei ha-Besht] first edition, with supp. and introduction by Benjamin Mintz, Tel-Aviv 5721 (1961).
In Praise of the Besht Mondschein: [Shiv§ei ha-Besht], ms. facsimile by Joshua Mondschein,
Jerusalem 5742 (1982).
In praise of the Baal Shem Tov [Shiv§ei ha-Besht], trans. and ed. by Dan Ben-Amos and
Jerome R. Mintz, New York 1984 [1970]. (English)
In Praise of the Besht Rubinstein: [Shiv§ei ha-Besht], an annotated and elucidated edition by Abraham Rubinstein, Jerusalem 5752 (1992).
Intense Loving [Ahavat Dodim], Benjamin of Zalozhtsy, Lemberg 5553 (1793).
Joseph is a Fruitful Son [Ben Porat Yosef], Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye, Korets 5541
(1781).
Kindness to Abraham [flesed le-Avraham], Abraham Azulay, Jerusalem 5756 (1996)
[Amsterdam 5445 (1685)].
Kindness to Abraham [flesed le-Avraham], Abraham “the Angel,” b. Dov Ber of Mezhirichi,
Jerusalem 5714 (1954) [Chernovtsy 5611 (1851)].
Knowledge of Moses [Da'at Moshe], Moses Elyakum Berieh, Lemberg 5639 (1879).
Life and Kindness [flayyim va-flesed], flayyim flaika of Amdur, Warsaw 5651 (1891).
The Life of Solomon Maimon [flayyei Shelomo Maimon], Solomon Maimon, with introduction by Fishel La§over, Tel-Aviv 5713 (1953).
Light of Isaac [Or Yi ç§aq], Isaac of Radvil, Jerusalem 5721 (1961).
Light of Torah [Or Torah], Korets 5564 (1804) (printed from a ms. in the possession
of Isaiah of Dunayevtsy).
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Light of Truth [Or ha-Emet], Husyotin 5659 (1899) (printed from a ms. in the possession of Çevi flasid).
The Light That Illuminates [Or ha-Me’ir ], Ze"ev Wolf of Zhitomir, Korets 5558 (1798)
(R 3204/2 in the Scholem Library).
Lights of the Holy [Orot ha-Qodesh], vol. 2, Abraham Isaac ha-Kohen Kook, Jerusalem
5724 (1964).
Lover of Israel, complete edition [Ohev Yisra’el ha-Shalem], Abraham Joshua Heschel of
Opatow, Jerusalem 5748 (1988) [Zhitomir 5623 (1863)].
Maimonides’ Book of the Commandments, with Nahmanides’ Comments [Sefer ha-Miçvot le-haRambam im Hasagot ha-Ramban], with introduction, references, explanations, and
indices by flayyim Dov Chavel, Jerusalem 5741 (1981).
Mandrakes in the Field [Duda’im ba-Sadeh], Reuben ha-Levi Horowitz, Lemberg 5619
(1859).
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yo§ai, ed. Jacob Na§um ha-Levi Epstein and Ezra Zion
Melamed, Jerusalem 5715 (1955).
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishma’el, ed. Hayyim Saul Horowitz and Israel Abraham Rabin,
Frankfort-am-Mein 5691 (1931).
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishma’el, trans. with introduction and notes by Jacob Z. Lauterbach,
Philadelphia 2004. (English)
Midrash Exodus Rabbah [Shemot Rabbah], vol. 6, ed. Moses Aryeh Mirkin, Tel-Aviv
5720 (1960).
Midrash Exodus Rabbah [Shemot Rabbah], trans. by S. M. Lehrman, London 1961 [1939])
Midrash Genesis Rabbah [Bereshit Rabbah], vol. 2, ed. Moses Aryeh Mirkin, Tel-Aviv
5731 (1971).
Midrash Genesis Rabbah [Bereshit Rabbah], trans. by Lazarus Shapiro, New York 1906.
(English)
Midrash Genesis Rabbah [Bereshit Rabbah], vol. 3, ed. Moses Aryeh Mirkin, Tel-Aviv
5732 (1972).
Midrash Genesis Rabbah [Bereshit Rabbah], vol. 4, ed. Moses Aryeh Mirkin, Tel-Aviv
5732 (1972).
Midrash Numbers Rabbah [Be-Midbar Rabbah], vol. 10, ed. Moses Aryeh Mirkin, TelAviv 5725 (1965).
Midrash Numbers Rabbah [Be-Midbar Rabbah], trans. by Judah J. Slotki, London 1961
[1939]. (English)
Midrash on Psalms Known as “He Who Awaits the Good” [Midrash Tehillim ha-Mekhuneh
Sho§er Tov], ed. Solomon Buber, Vilnius 1891.
Midrash on Psalms Known as “He Who Awaits the Good” [Midrash Tehillim ha-Mekhuneh
Sho§er Tov], trans. by William G. Braude, New Haven 1959. (English)
Midrash Pesiqta of Rav Kahana [Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana], ed. Dov (Bernard) Mandelbaum,
New York 5722 (1962).
Midrash Pesiqta of Rav Kahana [Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana], trans. by William G. Braude
and Israel J. Kapstein, Philadelphia 1978 [1975]. (English)
Midrash Pesiqta Rabbati [Pesiqta Rabbati], ed. Me’ir Ish Shalom, Tel-Aviv 5723 (1963).
Midrash Pesiqta Rabbati [Pesiqta Rabbati], trans. by William G.Braude, New Haven
1968. (English)
Midrash Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer, In Tanna de-Bei Eliyahu, Jerusalem 5738 (1978)
Midrash Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer, In Tanna de-Bei Eliyahu, trans. by Gerald Friedlander,
London 1981. (English)
Midrash Sifri of the Academy of Rav for the Book of Numbers [Sifri de-Bei Rav, Be-Midbar],
ed. flayyim Saul Horowitz, Leipzig 5677 (1917).
Midrash Tanhuma, ed. Solomon Buber, New York 5706 (1946).
Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, trans. by Samuel A. Berman, New Jersey 1996. (English)
Ms. Jerusalem 8 903, Hasidic Epistles from the Land of Israel [Iggerot Hasidim me-Eretz
Yisra’el ] (formerly in the possession of Moses b. Isaac Schulman).
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Ms. Jerusalem 8 3282 (formerly in the possession of Samuel b. flayyim flaika of
Amdur).
Ms. Jerusalem 8 5198 (formerly in the possession of Jonah b. Mena§em of Pintov),
In Hasidism as Mysticism: Quietistic Elements in Eighteenth Century Hasidic Thought [HaHasidut ke-Mistiqah: Yesodot Qevietistiyim be-Mahashavah ha-Hasidit ba-Me’ah ha-18],
Rivka Schatz-Uffenheimer, Jerusalem 5748 (1988), 193–223.
Ms. Jerusalem (Rothschild) 8 5979.
My Dear Esterlein [Esterlein Yeqirati], Samuel Joseph Agnon, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv
5743 (1983).
Nectar of the Fruit of the Tree of Life [Seraf Peri Eç flayyim], Moses Shoham of Dolina,
Chernovtsy 5626 (1866).
Orchard of Pomegranates [Pardes Rimmonim], Moses Cordovero, Salonika 5344 (1584);
Krakow 5352 (1592); Korets 5540–5541 (1780–1781).
Order of the Generations, revised edition [Seder ha-Dorot he-fladash], Menahem Mendel
Bodek, Russia-Poland 5610 (1850).
Order of the Joyful Heart [Seder Lev Sameia§], flanokh Henikh, Lvov 5622 (1862).
Order of Prayer for the Entire Year with the Kavvanot of the Ari, may his memory be for a
blessing in the life of the world to come [Seder Tefillah mi-Kol ha-Shanah im Kavvanot haAri, z.l.l.h.h.], annotated and critically edited by our master the R. Shabbetai of
Vad Rashkov, Korets 5554 (1794).
Order of Prayers for the Entire Year According to the Ashkenazi Custom, With Ten Precious
Commentaries by the Holy Great Ones of the Land [Seder Tefillot al Kol ha-Shanah keMinhag Ashkenaz im 10 Peirushum Yeqarim mi-Qedoshei Gedolei Aretz], Warsaw 5694
(1934).
Path of Your Commandments [Netiv Miçvotekha], Isaac Judah Saffrin, Lvov 5618 (1858).
Pillar of Service [Amud ha-Avodah], Barukh of Kosov, Chernovtsy 5623 (1863).
“Pirqei ha-Ne’ezar” Commentary on the Laws of Slaughter and Inspection Understood Simply,
Homiletically, Allusively, and Mystically [Pirqei ha-Ne’ezar al Hilkhot Shehitot u-Bediqot beDerekh Pardes], Eliezer the Slaughterer and Inspector of Zhitomir, Lublin 5646 (1886).
Pleasantness of Elimelekh [No'am Elimelekh], Elimelekh of Lozansky, Lvov 5548 (1788);
Polonnoye 5564 (1804).
Pleasantness of Sweets and Honor of the Torah [No'am Megadim u-Khevod ha-Torah], Eliezer
ha-Levi Horowitz, Lemberg 5567 (1807).
Praises of Israel [Tehillot Yisra’el], commentary on the Book of Psalms, Israel of
Kozienice, Lodz 5683 (1923) [publication place lacking, 5621 (1861)].
Preacher of Righteousness [Maggid Mesharim], Joseph Karo, trans. and ed. Yehiel Abraham
Bar-Lev, Petah Tiqvah 5750 (1990) [Lublin 5406 (1646)].
Precious Gleanings [Liqqutim Yeqarim], Lemberg 5552 (1792); Mezirov 5554 (1794);
Zolkow 5560 (1800) (printed from a ms. formerly in the possession of Meshullam
Feibush Heller).
Precious Gleanings and Honest Words of Truth and Faith [Liqqutim Yeqarim ve-Yosher Divrei
Emet], Meshullam Feibush Heller, ed. Abraham Isaac Kahn, Jerusalem 5734
(1974) [Lemberg 5552 (1792)].
Pupil of My Eye [Bat Eini], Issakhar Ber of Zolochev, Dubno 5558 (1798).
Purification of the Service [Miçraf ha-Avodah], Jacob Bacharach, Koenigsburg 5618 (1858).
Record of Great Men, complete edition [Shem ha-Gedolim ha-Shalem], vol. 1, flayyim
Joseph David Azulai, Podgorze-near-Krakow 5665 (1905).
Record of Great Men, complete edition [Shem ha-Gedolim ha-Shalem], vol. 2, flayyim
Joseph David Azulai, Pyetrikov 5690 (1930).
Record of the Council of the Four Lands [Pinqas Va'ad Arba' Araçot], a collection of rules,
transcripts, and records arranged and explained by Israel Hailperin, Jerusalem
5705 (1945).
Mishneh Torah, Sefer Ahavah, Moses Maimonides, commentary by Samuel Tanhum
Rubinstein, Jerusalem 5722 (1962).
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Mishneh Torah (The Code of Maimonides), Moses Maimonides, ‘The Book of Love’
(Book 2), trans. by Menahem Kellner, vol. 32, New Haven 2004. (English)
Mishneh Torah, Sefer Shofetim, Moses Maimonides, commentary by Samuel Tanhum
Rubinstein, Jerusalem 5718 (1958).
Mishneh Torah (The Code of Maimonides), Moses Maimonides, ‘The Book of Judges’
(Book 14), trans. by Abraham M. Hershman, vol. 3, New Haven 1949. (English)
Repairs of the Zohar [Sefer Tiqqunei ha-Zohar], Korets 5540 (1780).
Sabbath Prayer Book [Sidduro shel Shabbat], flayyim Tirrer, Mohluv 5573 (1813).
Sanctity of Levi, complete edition [Qedushat Levi ha-Shalem], Levi Isaac of Berdichev,
ed. Ze"ev Derbrimdiker, Jerusalem 5738 (1978) [Slovita 5558 (1798)].
Sayings of Pinhas, complete edition [Imrei Pin§as ha-Shalem], Pin§as of Korets, BeneiBeraq 5748 (1988).
Shield of the Patriarchs—commentary on Tractate Avot [Magen Avot al Avot], Simeon b.
Çemah Duran, Leipzig 5615 (1855) [Livorno 5522 (1762)].
Shoot of David [Çema§ David], David b. Çevi Elimelekh of Dinuv, Peremyshlyany
5639 (1879).
Sparks of Fire [Rishfei Esh], Mordecai of Nesukhoyezhe, In Book of Rav Yeivi, Brody
5634 (1874) [Ostrog 5568 (1808)].
Spring of Living Water [Be’er Mayim flayyim], flayyim Tirrer, Sidlikov 5580 (1820).
Streets of the River, The Book of Might and Power [Rehovot ha-Nahar, Sefer ha-Iliyut ve-haKoah ], Uri Çevi Greenberg, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv 5711 (1951).
Tablets of Testimony [Lu§ot Eidut], Jonathan Eibeschutz, Altona 5515 (1755).
Teaching of the Pious [Mishnat flasidim], Immanuel flai Ricchi, Lemberg 5638 (1878)
[Amsterdam 5487 (1727)].
Testament of R. Israel Ba'al Shem [Çava"at ha-Ribash], publication place lacking, 5553
(1793); publication place lacking, 5554 (1794) (printed from a ms. formerly in
the possession of Isaiah of Yanuv).
Testament of R. Israel Ba'al Shem [Çava"at ha-Ribash], trans. with introduction, notes
and commentary by Jacob Immanuel, Brooklyn 1998. (English)
The Apocryphal New Testament, a Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature, trans.
by James Keith Elliott, Oxford 1993. (English)
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. Frank Leslie Cross and Elizabeth
Anne Livingstone, Oxford 1997 [1957]. (English)
This Is a Remembrance [Zot Zikkaron], Jacob Isaac ha-Levi Horowitz, Munkacz 5702
(1942) [Lemberg 5611 (1851)].
Torah Commentaries by R. Levi Gersonides [Peirushei ha-Torah le-Rabbenu Levi b. Gershom
(Ralbag)], vol. 1, ed. Jacob Leib Levi, Jerusalem 5752 (1992).
Torah Commentaries by R. Moses Nahmanides [Peirushei ha-Torah le-Rabbenu Moshe b. Nahman
(Ramban)], vol. 1, ed. Hayyim Dov Chavel, Jerusalem 5719 (1959).
Torah Commentaries by R. Moses Nahmanides [Peirushei ha-Torah le-Rabbenu Moshe b. Nahman
(Ramban)], trans. by Charles B. Chavel, New York 1971–76. (English)
Tractate Avot With the commentary Fruit of Life [Masekhet Avot im Peri flayyim], Abraham
flayyim of Zolochev, Lvov 5633 (1873).
Treasury of Wisdom, [Oçar flokhmah], vol. 1, ed. Joseph Kohen Zedeq, Lvov 5620
(1860).
Tree of Life [Eç flayyim], Hayyim Vital, In Collected Writings of the Ari, may his memory be for a blessing [Kol Kitvei ha-Ari z.l], vol. 1, Jerusalem 5748 (1988) [Korets
5542 (1782)].
Tree of Life [Eç flayyim], flayyim Vital, Korets 5542 (1782); Korets 5544 (1784);
Korets 5545 (1785).
Two Tablets of the Covenant, complete edition [Shenei Lu§ot ha-Berit ha-Shalem], Isaiah
Horowitz, Jerusalem 5753 (1993) [Amsterdam 5409 (1649)].
Uprightness of the Heart [Yosher Levav], Immanuel flai Ricchi, Jerusalem 5733 (1973)
[Amsterdam 5502 (1742)].
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Way to Life [Ora§ le-flayyim], Abraham flayyim of Zolochev, Berdichev 5577 (1817).
Ways of Pleasantness [Darkhei No'am], Samuel b. Eliezer of Klovrio, Koenigsburg 5524
(1764).
Ways of Righteousness [Darkhei Çedeq], Zechariah Mendel of Yaroslav, Lvov 5556
(1796).
Ways of the Just [Darkhei Yesharim], Zhitomir 5565 (1805) (attributed to R. Mena§em
Mendel of Peremyshlyany).
Word of Solomon [Dibrat Shelomo], Solomon Lutsker, Zolkow 5608 (1848).
Words of Moses [Divrei Moshe], Moses Shoham of Dolina, publication place lacking,
5561 (1801).
Words of Truth [Divrei Emet], Jacob Isaac ha-Levi Horowitz, Munkacz 5702 (1942)
[Zolkow 5568 (1808)].
Zohar [Book of Splendor], Korets 5538 (1778).
Zohar of Gershom Scholem [Zohar shel Gershom Scholem], with his handwritten annotations and an introduction by Yehuda Liebes, Jerusalem 5752 (1992).
Zohar with the Commentary of “the Ladder” [Zohar im Peirush ha-Sulam], Jerusalem 5713
(1953).
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name. When an English translation exists, its details are specified in round brackets after the details of the original Hebrew.
Alfasi, Isaac. 1969. Hasidism: Historical and Analytical Studies. Tel-Aviv.
———. 1986. Encyclopedia of Hasidism: Personalities (I–IX). Jerusalem.
———. 1997. The Unique One of the Generations: The Life of Our Master R. Israel Ba'al
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Altshuler, Mor. 1994. “Kevutzat Ya’akov: Between Biography and Hagiography.” In
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———. 1995. Rabbi Meshullam Feibush Heller and His Place in Early Hasidism. Doctoral
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Amir, Abraham. 1990. “R. Joshua b. Levi and His Relationships with Elijah, Simeon
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Assaf, David. 1992. Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin and His Role in the History of the Hasidic
Movement in the First Half of the 19th Century. Doctoral dissertation, Hebrew
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———. 1993. “Review: David Assaf / Yesod ha-Ma’ala: A new Chapter in the
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———. 1996. “‘The Rumor was Spread that the Messiah has Alraedy Come’: New
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———. 1997. The Regal Way, the Life and Times of R. Israel of Ruzhin, Jerusalem.
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———. 2000. “One Event, Two Interpretations: The Fall of ‘the Seer of Lublin’
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Hasidism in Memory of Mordecai Wilensky, ed. Immanuel Etkes, David Assaf, Israel
Bartal, and Elchanan Reiner, pp. 161–208. Jerusalem. (English version in Polin,
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Assaf, Sim§ah. 1947. “Genealogy of the Altshul Family.” Reshumot 4: 131–143.
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Balaban, Me’ir. 1934. History of the Frankist Movement, vol. 1, Tel-Aviv.
———. 1935. History of the Frankist Movement, vol. 2, Tel-Aviv.
Barnai, Jacob. 1977. “Notes on the Immigration of R. Abraham Gershon Kutower
to Eretz-Israel.” Zion 42: 110–119, 306–311.
———. 1978. “Revival of the Jewish Community of Tiberias in 5500 (1740) and
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———. 1980. Hasidic Letters from Eretz-Israel from the Second Part of the Eighteenth Century
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———. 1987. “Trends in the Historiography of the Medieval and Early modern
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———. 1995. Historiography and Nationalism: Trends in the Study of the Land of Israel and
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Bartal, Israel. 1983. “The Old Yishuv.” In History of the Land of Israel, vol. 8 (The
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———. 1985. “The Aliyah of R. Elazar Rokeah of Amsterdam (1740).” In Studies
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Bauminger, Mordekhai Shraga. 1971. “Concerning the Besht’s Epistle.” Sinai 68:
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———. 1972. “The Epistles of Rabbeinu Israel Ba'al Shem Tov z.l.l.h.h. and His
Son-in-Law R. Yehiel Mikhel z.l.l.h.h. to R. Abraham Gershon z.l.l.h.h. of
Kutov.” Sinai 71: 248–269.
———. 1973. “More on the Epistles of the Besht and His Son-in-Law to R. Abraham
Gershon of Kutov.” Sinai 72: 270–283.
Ben Sasson, flayyim Hillel. 1969. “Isaiah b. R. Abraham ha-Levi (the Shelah).” In
Hebrew Encyclopedia, vol. 13, pp. 943–946. Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv.
Benayahu, Me’ir. 1949. “The Yeshiva of R. Immanuel flai Ricchi in Jerusalem and
his Murder on a Mission in Italy.” Jerusalem 2: 29–37.
———. 1959–1960. “The Brotherhood of R. Judah flasid and their Settlement in
Jerusalem.” Sefunot 3–4: 131–182.
———. 1961. “The ‘Maggid’ Of R. Moses flayyim Luzatto.” Sefunot 5: 297–336.
———. 1964. “The Association of flasidim and the Penitential Associations in Safed
Founded by R. Elazar Azkari.” ha-Aretç, 27 March 1964.
———. 1967. The Toledoth ha-Ari and Luria’s “Manner of Life (Hanhagoth).” Jerusalem.
———. 1995/1. “Linkage Documents of the Jerusalem Kabbalists.” In Asufot: Yearbook
for Jewish Studies, vol. 9, ed. Me’ir Benayahu, pp. 9–128. Jerusalem.
———. 1995/2. “Linkage Documents of the Safed and Egyptian Kabbalists.” In
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Jerusalem.
Biber, Mena§em Mendel. 1907. In Remembrance of the Great Figures of Ostrog. Berdichev.
Buber, Martin. 1945. In the Orchard of Hasidism: Studies in Its Thought and Being. TelAviv. (English: Tales of the flasidim, New York 1991).
Dan, Joseph and Tishby, Isaiah. 1969. “The Teaching of Hasidism.” In Hebrew
Encyclopedia, vol. 17, pp. 769–821. Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv.
Dan, Joseph. 1966. The Hasidic Novel. Jerusalem.
———. 1975/1. Ethical and Homiletical Literature. Jerusalem. (English: “Jewish Ethical
Literature.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion, vol. 8, ed. Mircea Eliade, pp. 82–87.
New York 1987)
———. 1975/2. The Hasidic Story: Its History and Development. Jerusalem.
———. 1980. “Pirkei Heikhalot Rabbati and the Story of the Ten Martyrs.” Eshel
Be"er Sheva 2: 63–80.
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———. 1981. “The Beginnings of Hebrew Hagiographic Literature.” In Jerusalem
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———. 1990–1991. Ashkenazi Pietism in the History of Jewish Thought, vols. 1–3. RamatAviv. (English: Dan 1998/2, vol. 3, pp. 19–200).
———.1992. “The Revelation of ‘the Secret of the World’: The Beginning of Jewish
Mysticism in Late Antiquity.” Da'at 29: 5–25. (English: Dan 1998/2, vol. 1,
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———. 1993/1. “From Theological Paradox to Historical Paradox: The Teachings
of flabad and the History of flabad.” Tarbiz 62: 137–147.
———. 1993/2. “Sabbatianism and the Modern Era in Jewish History.” Jewish
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———. 1994. “The Scholar and the Mystic in Jewish Culture.” In Proceedings of the
Eleventh World Congress of Jewish Studies, sec. 3, vol. 2, pp. 1–8. Jerusalem.
———. 1995. “Hasidism.” In Hebrew Encyclopedia, supp. vol. 3, pp. 412–419. Jerusalem
and Tel-Aviv. (English: “Besht Rabbi Israel.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion,
vol. 2, ed. Mircea Eliade, p. 118. New York 1987; “Hasidism, an Overview.”
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———. 1997. On Sanctity: Religion, Ethics, and Mysticism in Judaism and Other Religions.
Jerusalem.
———. 1998/1. The Modern Jewish Messianism. Tel-Aviv.
———. 1999. “The End of the Frumkinian Hasidism.” In Studies in Hasidism (Jerusalem
Studies in Jewish Thought, no. 15), ed. David Assaf, Immanuel Etkes and Joseph
Dan, pp. 261–274. Jerusalem.
———. 2000. “The Duality of Hasidic Messianism.” In Within Hasidic Circles: Studies
in Hasidism in Memory of Mordecai Wilensky, ed. Immanuel Etkes, David Assaf,
Israel Bartal, and Elchanan Reiner, pp. 299–315. Jerusalem. (English version
in Hesed ve-Emet; Studies in Honor of Ernest S. Frerichs, ed. Jodi Magness and
Seymour Gitin, pp. 391–407. Atlanta 1998)
———. 2001. “Hasidism: The Third Century.” In Zaddik and Community: Historical
and Social Perspectives in the Study of Hasidism, ed. David Assaf, pp. 52–65. Jerusalem.
(English: Dan 1998/2, vol. 4, pp. 67–86)
Dinur, Ben-Zion. 1955. As the Generations Turn: Studies in Early Modern Jewish History.
Jerusalem. (English: “The Origins of Hasidism and its Social and Messianic
Foundations.” In Essential Papers on Hasidism: Origins to Present, ed. Gershon
Hundert, pp. 86–101. New York 1991)
Don-Yi§ia, Shabbetai. 1961. A Pioneering Admor. Tel-Aviv.
Dubnow, Simeon. 1901. “Rebellious flasidim.” ha-Shela§ 7: 314–320.
———. 1960 [1931]. History of Hasidism, Based on Primary Sources, Printed and Manuscripts.
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Elbaum, Jacob. 1990. Openness and Insularity: Late Sixteenth Century Jewish Literature in
Poland and Ashkenaz. Jerusalem.
———. 1998. “The Land of Israel in ‘Two Tablets of the Covenant’ by R. Isaiah
Horowitz.” In The Land of Israel in Modern Jewish Thought, ed. Aviezer Ravitzky,
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Elior, Rachel. 1982. “The Minsk Debate.” In Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought, no.
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———. 1986. “The Doctrine of Transmigration in Galya Raza.” In Studies in Kabbalah,
Jewish Philosophy, and the Literature of Ethics and Thought, Presented to Isaiah Tishby
on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday, ed. Joseph Dan and Joseph Hacker, pp. 207–240.
Jerusalem. (English version in Essential Papers on Kabbalah, ed. Lawrence Fine,
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———. 1992/1. “The Metaphorical Relation between God and Man and the
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———. 1992/2. Unity of Opposites: the Mystical Theosophy of Habad. Jerusalem. (English:
The Paradoxical Ascent to God: the Kabbalistic Theosophy of flabad Hasidism, Albany
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———. 1993/2. “Between ‘Divestment of Corporeality’ and ‘Love of Corporeality.’”
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———. 1993/3. “The Innovation of Polish Hasidism: From ‘Fear’ and ‘Love’ to
‘Depth’ and ‘Nuance.’” Tarbiz 62: 381–432.
———. 1994/1. “Nathan Adler and the Frankfurt Pietists: Pietistic Groups in
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———. 1994/2. “Between Existence and Nothingness: An Examination of the
Doctrine of the Zaddik of R. Jacob Isaac, ‘the Seer of Lublin.’” In Hasidism in
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———. 1994/3. “The Paradigms of ‘Yesh’ and ‘Ayin’ in Hasidic Thought.” In
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INDEX OF PERSONALITIES
Aaron (the priest) 41, 143, 169
Aaron b. Çevi Hirsch (Besht’s
grandson) 303
Aaron Ettinga 378, 379
Aaron ha-Levi of Starsulia 238
Aaron Leib of Peremyshlyany 217
Aaron “the great” of Karlin 283,
301, 387
Aaron (the second) of Karlin 128,
225, 260, 262
Abraham (patriach) 73, 74, 75, 76,
79, 83, 119, 120, 143, 154, 169,
171, 323, 324, 327, 328
Abraham Abulafia 24, 84, 138
Abraham Azulai 59, 60, 123
Abraham b. Dov Ber of Mezhirichi
230, 265, 295
Abraham b. Isaac Eisik ha-Kohen
of Korets (Solomon Lutsker’s
son-in-law) 131, 246, 252, 254,
255, 256, 260, 287, 312
Abraham Dov of Chmelnik 135, 251
Abraham flayyim of Zolochev 68,
72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 85, 109, 111,
116, 119, 121, 126, 137, 168, 225,
226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 235, 257,
264, 276, 277, 284, 285, 325, 326
Abraham flayyim Schor 272
Abraham Jacob (admor of Sadgura)
228, 236
Abraham Joshua Heschel of Opatow
45, 102, 184, 192, 227, 230, 231,
236, 257, 271
Abraham Katz of Kolyshki 9, 31, 32,
67, 125, 128, 158, 165, 169, 177,
179, 185, 187, 190, 191, 192, 281,
283, 284, 387, 391
Abraham Karliner 387
Abraham Mordecai b. Israel flarif
Hailperin of Satanov 138, 139
Abraham Noa§ ha-Levi Heller 271,
272
Abraham Revigo 158
Abraham Samson Katz of Vad
Rashkov 27, 135, 251
R. Adam 261, 262
Agnon, Samuel Joseph 233
A§a b. Jacob (amora) 357
A§iyah of Shiloh 15, 26, 197, 304,
305
A§med Jazzar 163, 176
Akiva (tanna) 65
Alexander Sender of Shklov 382
Alfasi, Isaac 27, 44, 268, 305
Altshuler, flaya (Epstein) 388
Altshuler, Mor 14, 36, 52, 59, 277,
304
Amir, Abraham 21
Angelicus Miller 162
Ari See Isaac Luria Ashkenazi,
Lurianic Kabbalah
Aryeh Leib the Rebuker of Polonnoye
31, 197, 299, 300
Assaf, David 7, 25, 36, 67, 170, 172,
175, 176, 208, 223, 283, 379
Assaf, Sim§ah 37
Avigdor of Pinsk 255
Avishar, Oded 161, 162, 192, 266,
386, 388
Azriel of Shklov 158
Ba§ya ibn Paquda 310, 339, 341,
382
Balaban, Me’ir 30, 31, 49, 62, 63,
305
Berger, David 209
Bartal, Israel 25, 241
Barukh of Kosov 37, 288
Bauminger, Mordekhai Shraga 299,
300, 305
Barnai, Jacob 6, 15, 25, 127, 128,
139, 140, 162, 164, 166, 168, 173,
174, 176, 177, 178, 180, 181, 182,
184, 185, 187, 190, 191, 192, 282,
283, 284, 288, 385, 386, 391, 392,
393
Benayahu, Me’ir 5, 6, 43, 59, 62,
106, 121, 146, 158
Benayahu b. Yehoyada (biblical
personality) 256
Benjamin of Zalozhtsy 46, 47, 233,
234, 235, 236, 257, 264, 360, 380
Biber, Mena§em Mendel 38, 55, 185,
237, 246, 247
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index of personalities
Bluma (Mordecai of Nesukhoyezhe’s
granddaughter) 270
Blumah Reizel (Isaac of Radvil’s
granddaughter) 223
Bryna daughter of Zisel (Mena§em
Mendel of Vitebsk’s granddaughter)
386
Buber, Martin 3, 28
Cain (biblical personality)
Cohen, Amnon 161
114
Dahir al-'Amr 162, 163
Dan b. Isaac of Radvil 223, 227,
231, 270
Dan, Joseph 44, 106, 110, 113, 116,
189, 194, 195, 200, 207, 209, 251,
261, 321, 339, 347, 351, 365
Daniel (biblical personality) 16
David (King) 15, 29, 35, 37, 143,
155, 162, 256, 334, 338, 339
David, Abraham 161
David b. Nathan Greenhut 136
David b. Çevi Elimelekh of Dinov
371
David ha-Levi of Stepin 217
David “the younger” of Bukhov 391
David Makov 55, 107, 108, 122, 126,
127, 129, 140, 141, 142, 236, 374,
375
Dembovsky 30
Dinur, Ben-Zion 3, 4, 12, 25, 26, 27,
28, 47, 62, 158, 159, 204, 286, 305,
325
Dov Ber b. Azriel 385, 386, 387, 394
Dov Ber of Mezhirichi (the Maggid of
Mezhirichi) 4, 12, 31, 32, 33, 34,
36, 51, 52, 55, 115, 124, 196, 199,
215, 216, 228, 229, 230, 232, 234,
235, 239, 240, 259, 263, 265, 268,
269, 275, 276, 290, 291, 296, 311,
312, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 325,
326, 343, 359, 373, 377, 379, 388
Dubnow, Simeon 3, 27, 255, 290,
305
Elazar Azkari 85, 89, 106, 118, 310,
338, 339, 365
Elazar b. Elimelekh of Lozansky 66
Elazar b. Shamu (tanna) 76
Elazar (Eliezer) Zussman 180, 267
Elazar Rokeia§ 158, 164
Elazar Shapira of Munkacz 129
Elbaum, Jacob 37, 62, 156, 272, 284,
364
Eli (priest) 107
Eliezer Horowitz 82, 83, 128, 231,
235, 356, 357, 361, 372
Eliezer of Zhitomir (slaughterer and
meat-inspector) 60, 237
Elijah (the Gaon of Vilnius) 159, 181,
265
Elijah (prophet) 8, 15, 21, 22, 23, 65,
138, 240
Elijah De Vidash 310, 366, 381
Elimelekh of Lozansky 66, 121, 122,
126, 127, 217, 231, 245, 257, 286,
378, 384
Elior, Rachel 20, 49, 57, 58, 62, 97,
102, 105, 212, 222, 243, 245, 348,
368, 373, 380
Elisha (prophet) 371
Elqayam, Abraham 79, 155, 167
Elstein, Yoav 44
Ephraim Zalman Margaliot 225, 228,
246, 264
Ephraim of Sidlikov 341, 342, 343
Epstein, flayyim David 388, 389, 390
Epstein, Jacob Çevi Hirsch 389
Epstein, Mena§em Mendel 389
Epstein, Sarah 389
Esau (biblical personality) 220
Estori ha-Par§i 161, 171, 185, 186
Etkes, Immanuel 29, 300, 301
Ezekiel (prophet) 74, 173, 190
Ezekiel Segal Landau 40, 42, 47,
140, 241, 346
Francisco Mendes (Çema§ Benvenisti)
161
Frenkel, Jonah 21
Fridel of Brody 164
Friedberg, flayyim Dov 135, 241,
265
Gedaliah of Zolkow 137, 225, 284
Gelber, Nathan Michael 48, 49, 62,
137, 139, 226, 272, 276
Gershon of Kutov 15, 25, 31, 138,
158, 197, 202, 299, 343
Ginsburg, Levi 99
Ginsburg, Simeon 107
Ginsburg, Elliot kiba 418
Glicksburg, Simeon Jacob ha-Levi
241
Goldish, Matt 5, 23, 26, 43, 91
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index of personalities
Granetstein, Ye§iel 128
Gracia Miques-Nasi (Dona Gracia)
161, 162
Green, Abraham Isaac 195, 209
Greenberg, Uri Çevi 263
Gries, Ze’ev 117, 128, 135, 250, 255,
258, 264, 270, 287, 289, 290, 291,
292, 293, 310, 312, 316, 339, 340,
367, 375
Grossman, Levi ha-Levi 387
Habakkuk (prophet) 107, 108, 141,
183
Haberman, Abraham Me’ir 255, 315
Hacker, Joseph 161, 174
Hadrian (Roman emperor) 146
Hailperin, Israel 165, 167, 174, 177
flalamish, Moshe 92, 123, 124, 129,
155, 160, 167, 338
flannah (Barukh of Medzhibozh’s
daughter) 218
Haran, Ra'aya 32, 62, 166, 194, 216,
296
Harvey, Ze’ev 154
flavah (Mordecai of Kremenets’s
daughter) 225
flayyim Abulafia 158, 162, 163
flayyim b. Attar 158
flayyim David “the younger” 388,
390, 391, 392, 394
flayyim flaika of Amdur 122, 283,
293, 312, 367
flayyim Joseph David Azulai 173
flayyim Tirrer of Chernovtsy 192,
241, 244, 346
flayyim of Krasnow 183, 192, 290,
291
flayyim of Tzanz 136, 137, 138, 346
flayyim Segal Landau 49, 137, 138,
139, 140, 180, 181, 346
flayyim Vital 23, 62, 64, 65, 66,
114, 118, 136, 150, 251, 254, 271,
284, 295, 310, 318, 335, 381
Heilman, flayyim Me’ir 295, 296
Heschel, Abraham Joshua 38, 44, 51,
52, 53, 54, 55, 99, 133, 184, 191,
192, 231, 236, 246, 248, 249, 250,
260, 312, 376, 379
Heschel Çoref 128, 129, 226, 260,
261, 262, 303
Heyd, Uriel 161, 162
Hillel (the Elder) 112
Hillman, David Çevi 386, 392
425
flisdai, Jacob 41, 364
flunya (amora) 327
Ibo (amora) 332
Idel, Moshe 19, 20, 23, 24, 26, 28,
44, 45, 46, 62, 63, 84, 99, 115, 116,
138, 149, 155, 194, 204, 205, 206,
210, 244, 245, 304, 308, 338, 339,
367, 373, 375
Immanuel flai Ricchi 5, 6, 7, 9, 10,
25, 62, 67, 134, 148, 183, 184, 195,
284, 300, 310
Isaac (patriarch) 73, 74, 75, 76, 79,
83, 119, 120, 143, 154, 169, 220
Isaac b. Solomon Gleizor of Korets
247
Isaac of Babylonian (amora) 170
Isaac Chayes 37
Isaac Eisik ha-Kohen of Korets 131,
137, 150, 226, 237, 246, 249, 250,
253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 312
Isaac Judah Ye§iel Saffrin of Komarno
237
Isaac ha-Levi Horowitz Hamburger
38, 39, 40, 41, 140
Isaac flayyim Kohen min
ha-flazzanim 5, 7, 25
Isaac Luria Ashkenazi (Ari) 42, 43,
51, 57, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66,
91, 106, 109, 110, 113, 114, 118,
121, 123,124, 128, 136, 137, 138,
142, 143, 145, 146, 150, 158, 177,
184, 186, 260, 280, 281, 310, 314,
315, 318, 320, 334, 335, 367, 374,
382
Isaac of Drogobych 35, 37, 38, 39,
40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 49, 53,
116, 140, 198, 371
Isaac of Radvil 46, 47, 80, 115, 116,
125, 146, 147, 217, 218, 220, 221,
222, 223, 227, 231, 243, 245, 270,
271, 287, 344, 346
Issakhar Ber of Zaslov 192
Issakhar Ber of Zolochev 192, 226,
235, 257, 258, 276, 277, 346
Isaiah (prophet) 22, 35, 149, 152
Isaiah ha-Levi Horowitz (the Shelah)
59, 155, 168, 231, 310, 338, 339
Isaiah ha-Levi of Dunayevtsy 51, 54,
122, 129, 184, 247, 249, 250, 256,
258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 303, 304,
305, 312
Isaiah Mushkat 126, 223
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index of personalities
Isaiah Shapira (Pioneer admor) 210,
211
Ish-Shalom, Michael 162
Ishmael (biblical personality) 175, 220
Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (the Besht) 4,
5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17,
18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,
27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 36, 37, 38,
42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 64, 70, 71, 72,
113, 115, 124, 129, 133, 134, 135,
138, 144, 145, 189, 190, 194, 195,
196, 197, 198, 201, 202, 203, 205,
215, 216, 218, 219, 220, 229, 230,
232, 234, 235, 238, 240, 245, 255,
261, 262, 263, 268, 269, 271, 272,
274, 276, 286, 288, 295, 299, 300,
301, 304, 305, 306, 311, 312, 313,
314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 323, 324,
325, 328, 329, 330, 332, 333, 334,
340, 342, 343, 345, 347, 348, 372,
373, 377
Israel flarif Hailperin of Satanov 7,
139
Israel Lubel 255
Israel of Kozienice (the Maggid of
Kozienice) 122, 211, 225, 227,
262, 263, 312
Israel of Polotsk 173, 176, 180
Israel of Shklov 390
Israel Yaffee (“The Printer of Kapost”)
190, 192, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268,
388
Jacob (patriarch) 70, 73, 74, 75, 76,
83, 91, 95, 110, 119, 120, 154, 155,
219, 220
Jacob b. Judah Goltsor 393
Jacob Birav 157, 162
Jacob Frank 30, 31, 49, 63
Jacob ha-Levi b. Abraham Segal 268,
302, 393
Jacob Judah b. Aaron 390, 392, 393,
394
Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye 15, 17,
27, 31, 64, 124, 133, 134, 135, 137,
138, 142, 144, 196, 197, 198, 200,
202, 233, 251, 272, 299, 300, 329,
330, 341, 342
Jacob Joseph (“the Seer of Lublin”)
68, 102, 104, 116, 121, 122, 127,
168, 211, 222, 227, 232, 242, 243,
244, 245, 379
Jacob Kopel Lifschitz of Mezhirichi
123, 128, 132, 226, 264
Jacob Samson of Shipitovka 192
Jacobson, Yoram 83, 84, 149, 171,
210, 334, 373
Jeremiah (prophet) 153
Jeremiah (rabbinic emissary) 284
Jesus 10, 22, 23, 26, 86, 114, 121,
170, 212
Joel b. Moses of Smolian 68, 110,
147, 148, 166, 273, 278, 280, 283,
387
Jonathan Eibeschutz 40, 49, 137, 225
Joseph (biblical personality) 146, 149,
162
Joseph b. Jacob (rabbinic emissary)
185
Joseph Karo 90, 91, 94, 95, 99, 100,
101, 106, 108, 109, 118, 121, 157,
169, 177, 197, 307, 309, 310, 338,
341, 349, 359, 362, 376
Joseph Nasi (Don Joseph) 162
Joseph Spravidliever 35, 37
Joseph of Yampol 37, 43, 46, 144,
145, 164, 171, 191, 210, 217, 218,
219, 220, 231, 289, 371
Joseph Saul Nathanson 285
Joshua (biblical personality) 171
Joshua b. Levi (amora) 21, 23, 74
Judah (amora) 329
Judah flasid 158
Judah livva b. Beçal’el (Maharal of
Prague) 246
Kahana, Abraham 301, 303, 304,
305, 306
Katz, Jacob 364, 365
Karlinsky, Nahum 32, 166
Krassen, Miles A. 36, 110, 272, 279,
315
La§over, Yeru§am Fishel 33, 74, 109,
113, 323
Landau, Jonathan Ze’ev 236
Leah Zisel (Mena§em Mendel of
Vitebsk’s daughter in-law) 386
Leib Prusnitz 49
Lenowitz, Harris 195, 202, 207
Levi (amora) 89
Levi Isaac of Berdichev 111, 122,
126, 128, 226, 227, 228, 233, 235,
236, 237, 238, 263, 264, 285, 290,
291, 292, 312, 379
Lewis, Bernard 161
Liebes, Esther 79, 194, 288
Liebes, Yehuda 24, 26, 28, 49, 62,
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index of personalities
76, 78, 85, 88, 91, 93, 94, 95, 105,
106, 111, 113, 118, 146, 154, 155,
209, 220, 272, 288, 305, 370
Lieberman, Saul 87, 266
Loewnthal, Naftali 19, 195
Lunz, Abraham Moses 390
Mahler, Raphael 39
Marcus, Aaron 57
Margolin, Ron Pin§as 53
Matya b. flarash (tanna) 72, 74
Me’ir b. Gedaliah (the Maharam of
Lublin) 284
Mena§em Mendel of Ber 330, 333,
342
Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk 9, 67,
125, 127, 128, 139, 140, 158, 165,
167, 168, 169, 170, 172, 173, 178,
179, 181, 182, 184, 187, 188, 189,
190, 191, 192, 264, 265, 266, 267,
268, 269, 281, 282, 283, 302, 385,
386, 387, 388, 392, 393, 394
Mena§em Mendel of Peremyshlyany
115, 158, 164, 172, 235, 258, 274,
275, 276, 286, 288, 289, 291, 294,
311, 312, 314, 315, 316, 330, 360
Mena§em Mendel Shneerson
(the Lubavitcher Rebbe) 3, 208,
211, 212, 295
Meroz, Ronit 35, 62, 85, 106, 118,
146
Meshullam Feibush ha-Levi Heller 9,
37, 46, 52, 55, 59, 60, 64, 65, 66,
67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 77, 78, 81, 83,
85, 92, 98, 104, 110, 116, 119, 121,
123, 125, 126, 147, 148, 166, 169,
170, 172, 186, 187, 192, 226, 232,
257, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276,
277, 278, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284,
285, 292, 294, 302, 309, 311, 313,
314, 315, 318, 328, 329, 330, 331,
332, 348, 349, 350, 351, 363, 364,
365, 367, 370, 375, 387
Miriam (Ye§iel Mikhel’s daughter) 217
Mondschein, Joshua 166, 195, 268,
296, 301, 379, 393, 394
Mordecai b. Na§um of Chernobyl
122, 129, 216, 217
Mordecai Datto 84, 149, 334
Mordecai of Kremenets 128, 192,
210, 225, 228, 231, 242, 260, 262,
285
Mordecai of Nesukhoyezhe 122, 191,
270
427
Morgenstern, Aryeh 6, 9, 25, 134,
135, 140, 148, 159, 161, 167, 173,
181, 183, 195, 282, 293, 389
Moses (prophet) 12, 15, 41, 83, 89,
90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99,
100, 101, 103, 108, 109, 116, 127,
142, 143, 146, 147, 155, 169, 197,
307, 326, 331
Moses b. Hillel Osterer 138
Moses b. Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk
179, 386
Moses b. Pin§as Shapira of Korets
52, 53, 58, 239, 247
Moses Cordovero 63, 135
Moses Elyakum Berieh 225, 262
Moses flagiz 282
Moses flayyim Luzzatto (Ram§al) 43,
91, 94, 95, 100, 101, 107, 109, 111,
119, 130, 158
Moses Isserles (Rema) 284, 384
Moses Mordecai Levtov of Dzigivko
290
Moses Shoham of Dolina 125, 271,
272, 381
Moses of Zvihil 34, 217, 224
Moses of Zvirsh 37
Naftali Katz 246
Na§man of Bratslav 10, 11, 24, 123,
208, 370, 386
Na§man of Gorodonk 164, 288, 342
Na§man of Kosov 286, 342
Na§um of Chernobyl 122, 124, 129,
217, 261, 360
Nathan Neta ha-Kohen of Kolbiel
36, 143, 215, 238, 285
Nathan of Gaza 23, 43, 62, 78, 91,
119, 352
Nathan Shapira 138
Nehorai, Michael 154
Ne§uniah b. ha-Qaneh (tanna) 109
Nero (Roman emperor) 22
Nigal, Gedaliah 135, 231, 305, 315,
359, 360
Oron-Kushnir, Michal
58
Pachter, Mordechai 64, 89, 106, 119,
146, 150, 155, 307, 338, 339, 348,
360, 365, 370
Patai, Raphael 77, 86, 88, 94
Pedaya, flaviva 154
Peter 22
Piekarz, Mendel 47, 99, 194, 205,
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428
209,
286,
Pin§as
Pin§as
Pin§as
Page 428
231, 241, 262, 270, 271, 272,
338, 339, 342, 364, 368
(amora) 115
Horowitz 217, 226, 228, 285
Shapira of Korets 31
Qora§ (biblical personality)
331
Rabinowitz, Ze’ev 128, 129, 225,
260, 261, 303
Rachel (matriarch) See also Shekhinah
87, 91, 153
Rav (amora) 329
Rava b. Huna (amora) 309
Rapoport-Albert, Ada 4, 31, 48, 194
Redler-Feldman, Benjamin 165
Reiner, Elchanan 49, 200
Reuben (biblical personality) 219
Reuben ha-Levi Horowitz 127
Resh Laqish (amora) 83, 89, 115
Rosman, Moshe 14, 24, 29, 240,
301, 305
Rozani, Judah 211
Rozani, Joseph 195, 300, 303, 304
Rubin, Çvia 109
Rubinstein, Abraham 26, 43, 261,
267, 300, 315
Saadiah Gaon 92
Sack, Brachah 155
Safrai, Samuel 308, 309
Samson Meizlish 137, 225
Samson of Ostropolya 252, 272
Samuel (prophet) 19, 103
Samuel (Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s
grandson) 385, 386
Samuel b. Hayyim flaika of Amdur
293, 312, 367
Samuel b. flayyim Shabtels 140, 181
Samuel of Klovrio 6
Samuel Shmelka Zack 246
Samuel Shmulky of Nikolsburg 217,
263, 285
Sar Shalom Shar'abi 106, 111, 121
Sarah (matriarch) 327, 386
Schäfer, Peter 42, 105, 109, 110
Schatz-Uffenheimer, Rivka 19, 46,
51, 52, 53, 54, 57, 97, 103, 222,
233, 248, 274, 293, 323, 324, 325,
333, 334, 341, 346, 352, 359, 364,
373, 376, 379, 380, 381
Scholem, Gershom 3, 4, 5, 12, 13,
23, 28, 43, 55, 58, 62, 64, 71, 76,
77, 85, 86, 88, 90, 91, 94, 109, 116,
136, 138, 158, 167, 193, 194, 200,
201, 202, 203, 204, 234, 261, 273,
285, 286, 309, 315, 316, 321, 325,
331, 336, 337, 342, 345, 346, 353,
354, 365, 368, 375
Shabbetai of Vad Rashkov 128, 129,
252, 253, 261
Shabbetai Çevi 3, 5, 7, 10, 26, 30,
43, 49, 62, 63, 67, 79, 85, 91, 94,
95, 106, 108, 119, 121, 137, 141,
142, 155, 157, 158, 167, 173, 178,
202, 208, 226, 260, 331, 332, 334,
335, 352, 353
Shazar, Shneur Zalman 5
Shmeruk, Hannah 38, 57, 58, 59,
261, 273
Shneur Zalman of Lyady 31, 32, 103,
122, 125, 127, 191, 212, 238, 265,
283, 294, 295, 296, 313, 382, 383,
384
Sima (Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk’s
wife) 386
Sim§ah of Zalozhtsy 143, 158
Simeon b. Judah Leib Ashkenazi 131,
135, 250, 251
Simeon b. Çema§ Duran (Rashbaç) 112
Simeon b. Yo§ai (Rashbi) 6, 21, 88,
94, 95, 101, 106, 107, 109, 111,
112, 113, 146, 148, 150, 166, 177,
182, 184, 198, 287, 320, 373, 383,
384
Solomon Chelmo 179, 181
Solomon ha-Levi Elqabetç 90, 99,
100, 101, 109, 118, 155, 157, 169,
307, 309
Solomon Lutsker 66, 131, 132, 133,
134, 135, 199, 246, 250, 251, 252,
253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 260, 261,
262, 287, 301, 311, 312, 318
Solomon Molkho 318
Solomon Maimon 32, 33, 34
Solomon Zalman ha-Kohen Vilner
139, 164, 172, 180, 182, 189, 282,
288, 289, 293, 294
Stalin, Joseph 212
Stampfer, Saul 57
Stiman-Katz, flaya 15, 25, 176, 180,
191, 192, 226, 241, 257, 270, 273,
293, 387
Steinman, Eliezer 238
Suleiman “the Magnificent” 161
Sursky, Aaron 90, 182, 210, 268,
283, 302, 385, 386, 390, 391, 392,
393
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index of personalities
Ta-Shema, Israel 250, 254, 257
Tamar, David 23, 146
Tanenbaum, Isaac Matityahu 36, 37,
44, 192, 215, 220, 225, 226, 230,
238, 239, 243, 247, 270, 285
Tauber, Aryeh 131, 132, 236, 250
Teller, Adam 14, 34
Tishby, Isaiah 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 23, 28,
43, 57, 62, 74, 88, 91, 92, 95, 99,
101, 107, 109, 111, 113, 123, 139,
146, 194, 204, 226, 237, 238, 239,
241, 264, 323, 348, 373, 375, 382
Ula (amora) 349, 350
Urbach, Ephraim Elimelekh 73, 86,
87, 100, 101, 146
Uri Shapira of Vilnius 164
Uri “the Seraph” of Strelisk 45, 371
Uziel Meizlish 103, 104, 116, 137,
143, 148, 149, 150, 225, 245, 284
Wunder, Me’ir 137, 225, 226, 233,
271, 285
Weiss, Joseph 26, 47, 97, 209, 279,
315, 342, 367, 373
Werblowsky, Raphael Yehuda Çevi
99, 100, 106, 338, 349
Wertheim, Aaron 57
Wilensky, Mordekhai 6, 31, 34, 55,
56, 57, 61, 65, 107, 122, 126, 127,
129, 141, 142, 236, 243, 255, 258,
262, 263, 265, 270, 293, 294, 320,
354, 362, 374, 375, 378, 379, 383,
391
Wilhelm, Jacob David 89
Wirshovsky, flayyim 353
Wolfson, Elliott (Ephraim) 26, 27, 47,
62, 104, 194, 370
Ya'ari, Abraham 30, 143, 158, 174
Yaffee, David (Israel Yaffee’s son) 268
Yaffee, Pearl 388
Yaffee, Shprinça (Israel Yaffee’s wife)
388
Yinon, Joseph 78
Ye§iel Mikhel (the Maggid of Zolochev)
5, 8, 10, 11, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 43,
44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63,
64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 77,
78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 92,
93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101,
102, 103, 104, 107, 108, 109, 110,
111, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 121,
429
122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128,
130, 131, 133, 135, 137, 138, 139,
140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146,
147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 164, 165,
166, 168, 169, 171, 172, 180, 186,
188, 191, 192, 195, 196, 197, 198,
199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206,
209, 210, 211, 215, 216, 217, 218,
219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225,
227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 235, 236,
237, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244,
245, 247, 250, 251, 256, 257, 258,
259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 268, 269,
270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276,
277, 279, 280, 282, 284, 285, 286,
287, 289, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295,
296, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 314,
317, 318, 319, 322, 323, 325, 326,
327, 328, 331, 332, 333, 334, 336,
337, 340, 344, 345, 346, 348, 350,
351, 354, 356, 359, 360, 361, 362,
363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369,
370, 371, 372, 373, 376, 377, 379,
380, 381, 382, 384
Yenta the Prophetess 37
Yenta-Rechel (Ye§iel Mikhel’s wife)
217
Yo§anan (amora) 100, 161
Yokheved (Abraham Joshua Heschel of
Opatow’s daughter) 231
Yokheved (Mena§em Mendel of
Vitebsk’s daughter in-law) 386
Yom Tov Lipman Heller 272
Yosi (tanna) 35
Yosi b. flanina (amora) 74
Yuval, Israel Jacob 22
Zechariah (prophet) 156, 170
Zechariah Mendel of Yaroslav 312
Ze’ev Wolf of Chernyy-Ostrov 60
Ze’ev Wolf of Dubno 344, 346
Ze’ev Wolf of Zhitomir 52, 60, 68,
70, 72, 77, 85, 95, 97, 98, 99, 101,
104, 116, 121, 122, 124, 236, 237,
238, 241, 246, 264, 285, 337, 380
Çevi flasid 79
Çevi Hirsch b. Samson Meizlish 137
Çevi Hirsch Margaliot 132, 137, 246,
265
Çevi Hirsch of Nodvorno 287
Çevi Ze’ev of Zbarazh 224, 360
Zucker, Solomon 293, 323
Zur, Yaron 173
Zusya of Annopol 121, 122, 217, 232
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INDEX OF WRITINGS
Abraham’s Swiftness (Zerizuta
de-Avraham) 272
Alphabet, Enlightening Letters (Alfa
Beta Otiyot Ma§kimot), In Testament
of R. Israel Ba'al Shem [Çava’at
ha-Ribash]) 118, 256, 287
Alphabet, Enlightening Letters (Alfa
Beta Otiyot Ma§kimot) 256
Banner of Ephraim’s Encampment
(Degel Ma§aneh Efrayim) 341, 342
Beginning of Wisdom, complete edition
(Reshit flokhmah ha-Shalem) 307, 310,
338, 366, 367, 375, 381
Beloved Day (flemdat Yamim) 85, 91
Benjamin’s Portion (flelqat Binyamin) 233
Benjamin’s Sack (Amta§at Binyamin) 233
Besht’s Holy Epistle (Iggeret ha-Qodesh)
8, 14, 15, 113, 133, 134, 142, 251,
299, 301, 303, 305
Biography of Jacob Joseph (Toledot
Ya'aqov Yosef ) 15, 17, 26, 133, 134,
135, 251, 329, 330, 331, 333, 342,
343
Book of Brightness (Sefer ha-Bahir) 108,
265
Book of Creation (Sefer Yeßira) 20,
369, 370
Book of Creation, With the
Commentary “Secret Rose” (Sefer
Yeßira im Peirush Shoshan Sodot) 132,
133, 250
Book of Kanah (Sefer ha-Kanah) 58,
59, 131, 132, 141, 251, 252, 253,
254, 256
Book of the God-Fearing (Sefer flaredim)
307, 310, 365, 366, 382
Book of the Magnificent (Sefer
ha-Mefo’ar) 318
Book of Razi’el (Sefer Razi’el) 261
Book of Reincarnations See Lurianic
Kabbalah
Book of Splendor See Zohar
Book of Tashbaç (Sefer ha-Tashbaç)
112
Book of Visions See Lurianic Kabbalah
Book of Çoref (Sefer ha-Çoref ) 128,
226, 260, 262, 303
Booklet of the Holy See Lurianic
Kabbalah
Breaking of Sinners (Shever Posh'eim)
36, 55, 107, 122, 126, 127, 129,
140, 142, 236, 243, 258, 262, 263,
270, 293, 294, 320, 374, 378
Bud and Flower (Kaftor va-Fera§) 161,
171, 182
Biblical Commentaries
Abarbanel, Isaac 154
Altshuler, David (David’s Fortress
[Meçudat David]) 37, 170
Altshuler, Ye§iel Hillel (Zion’s Fortress
[Meçudat Çiyyon]) 37, 47
Levi b. Gershom (Ralbag) 154
Moses b. Na§man (Ramban) 23, 115,
116, 154
Samuel b. Me’ir (Rashbam) 356
Solomon. B. Isaac (Rashi) 35, 37, 41,
99, 154, 170, 171, 186, 280, 344,
345, 356, 357
Qim§i, David (Radaq) 47, 170
Covenant of Eternal Priesthood (Berit
Kehunat Olam) 226, 246, 247
Creation See Book of Creation
Census of the Jews of the Land of
Israel 390
Fruit of the Land (Peri ha-Aretç) 170,
182, 192, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269
Decameron 189
Duties of the Heart (flovot ha-Levavot)
310, 339
Entry to the Gates See Lurianic
Kabbalah
Epistle of Solomon ha-Levi Elqabetç
(Iggeret Shelomo ha-Levi Elqabetç) 90, 99,
100, 101, 109, 118, 157, 307, 309
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index of writings
Fruit of the Tree of Life See Lurianic
Kabbalah
Gate of Kavvanot See Lurianic
Kabbalah
Gate of Prayer (Sha'ar ha-Tefillah) 242
Gate of Recompense (Sha'ar ha-Gemul )
154
Gate of the Holy Spirit See Lurianic
Kabbalah
Gates of Holiness, In Book of Kavvanot
See Lurianic Kabbalah
Gates of Holiness See Lurianic
Kabbalah
Gates of Garden of Eden (Sha'arei Gan
Eden) 226, 264
Gleaned Statements (Liqqutei Amarim,
Mena§em Mendel of Vitebsk) 259,
276, 385
Gleaned Statements—Tanya (Liqqutei
Amarim Tanya) 103, 127, 313
Glory of Uziel, Called the Good Tree
of Knowledge (Tif ’eret Uziel ha-Niqra
be-Shem Eç ha-Da'at Tov) 103, 148,
149, 245, 284, 285, 286
Glory of Çevi Ze’ev (Tif’eret Çevi Ze’ev)
224, 360
Glory to the Upright (Pe’er la-Yesharim)
55
God-Fearing See Book of the
God-Fearing
Golden Doves (Torei Zahav) 233, 234,
235, 236, 360, 380
Good Circle (Ma’agal Tov) 173
Great Waters (Mayim Rabbim) 36,
37, 44, 45, 143, 144, 215, 225, 227,
230, 231, 236, 241, 242, 243, 257,
262, 270, 285, 322, 323, 371, 372,
381
He Imparts His Words to Jacob
(Maggid Devarav le-Ya'aqov) 66, 131,
133, 134, 199, 232, 250, 251, 259,
261, 276, 290, 291, 292, 301, 311,
312, 315, 316, 318, 319, 322, 323,
324
Herald of Righteousness (Mevasser
Çedeq) 257
431
Hidden Light (Or ha-Ganuz) 33, 372
Hidden Treasures of Ram§al (Ginzei
Ram§al ) 131
Holy Writings (Kitvei Qodesh) 262
Honest Words of Truth and Faith
(Yosher Divrei Emet) 10, 68, 272, 273,
277, 278, 313, 318, 365
House of Aaron (Beit Aharon) 128,
225
Illumination of the Eye and Let the
Heart Rejoice (Me’or Einayim im
Yisma§ Lev) 129
In Memory of This (Zikhron Zot) 243,
380
In Praise of R. Na§man (Shiv§ei ha-Ran)
386
In Praise of the Ari (Shiv§ei ha-Ari)
318
In Praise of the Besht (Shiv§ei ha-Besht)
Kapost 14, 190, 192, 266, 267
In Praise of the Besht Mondschein
16, 24, 113, 300, 301, 304, 306
In Praise of the Besht Mintz 236
In Praise of the Besht Rubinstein 7,
15, 25, 26, 27, 30, 36, 37, 38, 39,
40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49,
142, 144, 145, 189, 190, 192, 197,
198, 200, 215, 218, 220, 236, 240,
261, 262, 267, 268, 269, 299, 301,
317, 342, 388
Intense Loving (Ahavat Dodim) 46, 47,
233, 234, 235, 257
Joseph is a Fruitful Son (Ben Porat
Yosef ) 17, 18, 20, 25, 27, 29, 133,
134, 135, 142, 144, 186, 195, 197,
251, 299, 300, 304, 305, 306, 343
Kindness to Abraham, Abraham Azulai
(flesed le-Avraham) 59, 60, 123
Kindness to Abraham, Abraham “the
Angel,” b. Dov Ber of Mezhirichi
(flesed le-Avraham) 258
Knowledge of Moses (Da'at Moshe)
262
Known in Judah (Noda' bi-Yehudah,
responsa collection) 40, 241
Kanah See Book of Kanah
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index of writings
Lurianic Kabbalah
Book of Reincarnations (Sefer
ha-Gilgulim) 136, 137, 284
Book of Visions (Sefer ha-flezyonot) 23,
115
Booklet of the Holy (Ma§beret ha-Qodesh)
132, 133, 251, 252
Entry to the Gates (Mevo She'arim)
251, 252, 335
Fruit of the Tree of Life (Peri Eç
flayyim) 125, 132, 138, 139, 142,
145, 150, 251, 252, 253, 254, 271
Gate of Kavvanot (Sha'ar ha-Kavvanot)
91, 143
Gate of the Holy Spirit (Sha'ar Ruah
ha-Qodesh) 115
Gates of Holiness (Sha'arei Qedushah),
In Book of Kavvanot 252
Gates of Holiness (Sha'arei Qedushah)
113, 136
Tree of Life (Eç flayyim) 64, 65, 112,
125, 132, 138, 139, 141, 142, 145,
150, 251, 252, 253, 254, 271, 285,
310, 318, 335, 382
Life and Kindness (flayyim va-flesed)
293, 340, 367
The Life of Solomon Maimon (flayyei
Shelomo Maimon) 32
Light of Isaac (Or Yiç§aq) 46, 47, 80,
115, 125, 126, 147, 218, 219, 220,
221, 222, 223, 243, 344, 345, 346,
347, 352, 353, 367
Light of Israel (Or Yisra’el ) 265
Light of Torah (Or Torah) 240, 258,
259, 312, 327, 376
Light of Truth (Or ha-Emet) 65, 79,
120, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292,
312, 314, 324, 325, 327, 340, 341,
344, 355, 356, 358, 362, 363, 373,
375
The Light That Illuminates (Or
ha-Me’ir) 70, 71, 95, 96, 98, 99,
124, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241,
264, 380
Lion’s Voice (Qol Aryeh) 299
Lover of Israel, complete edition
(Ohev Yisra’el ha-Shalem) 230
Magnificent See Book of the
Magnificent
Maimonides’ Book of the
Commandments, with Nahmanides’
Comments (Sefer ha-Miçvot
le-ha-Rambam im Hasagot ha-Ramban)
383
Mandrakes in the Field (Duda’im
ba-Sadeh) 127
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yo§ai 99
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael 101, 182
Midrash Exodus Rabbah (Shemot
Rabbah) 89, 113
Midrash Genesis Rabbah (Bereshit
Rabbah) 154, 170, 171, 327
Midrash Numbers Rabbah (Be-Midbar
Rabbah) 332
Midrash on Psalms Known as “He
Who Awaits the Good” (Midrash
Tehillim ha-Mekhuneh Sho§er Tov) 99
Midrash Pesiqta of Rav Kahana
(Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana) 86
Midrash Pesiqta Rabbati (Pesiqta
Rabbati) 326
Midrash Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer 154
Midrash Sifri of the Academy of Rav
for the Book of Numbers (Sifri de-Bei
Rav, Be-Midbar) 86
Midrash Tanhuma 171
Mishneh Torah 161, 217, 225, 383
Ms. Cincinnati 62 52, 248, 249
Ms. Jerusalem 8 903 385, 392
Ms. Jerusalem 8 3282 293, 312
Ms. Jerusalem 8 3759 52, 248
Ms. Jerusalem 8 5198 323, 324, 333,
334, 372
Ms. Jerusalem (Rothschild) 8 5979 16,
173, 301, 303, 304, 305, 306
My Dear Esterlein (Esterlein Yeqirati )
233
Nectar of the Fruit of the Tree of Life
(Seraf Peri Eç flayyim) 125, 271
Orchard of Pomegranates (Pardes
Rimmonim) 132, 135, 250
Order of the Generations, revised
edition (Seder ha-Dorot he-fladash)
234, 237, 238, 247, 259, 268
Order of the Joyful Heart (Seder Lev
Sameia§) 126
Path of Your Commandments (Netiv
Miçvotekha) 237
Pesher on Habakkuk (Pesher Habaqquq)
108
Pillar of Service (Amud ha-Avodah) 37,
288
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index of writings
Pirqei ha-Ne’ezar (Pirqei ha-Ne’ezar) 60,
238
Pleasantness of Elimelekh (No'am
Elimelekh) 66, 126, 257
Pleasantness of Sweets and Honor of
the Torah (No'am Megadim u-Khevod
ha-Torah) 231, 232, 235, 356, 357,
358, 359, 360, 362
Praises of Israel (Tehillot Yisra’el ) 262
Preacher of Righteousness (Maggid
Mesharim) 90, 94, 307, 309, 310,
338, 349, 360
Precious Gleanings (Liqqutim Yeqarim)
37, 46, 50, 55, 59, 64, 65, 66, 68,
433
69, 70, 71, 78, 81, 82, 83, 84, 92,
98, 110, 119, 120, 121, 123, 125,
127, 148, 166, 169, 172, 186, 226,
240, 255, 257, 258, 259, 263, 272,
273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279,
280, 282, 284, 290, 291, 293, 294,
302, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313,
314, 315, 318, 323, 324, 325, 327,
328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334,
340, 349, 350, 351, 355, 356, 362,
363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 370, 372,
375
Pupil of My Eye (Bat Eini ) 346
Purification of the Service (Miçraf
ha-Avodah) 379
Prayer Books
Ari’s Liturgy 57, 61, 62, 64
Liturgy of the Sabbatean kabbalist
R. Jacob Kopel Lifschitz of
Mezhirichi 128
Lurianic Prayer Book of R. Shabbetai
of Vad Rashkov 128, 129
Order of Prayers for the Entire
Year According to the Ashkenazi
Custom (Seder Tefillot al Kol ha-Shanah
ke-Minhag Ashkenaz) 126
Prayer Book of R. Elazar Shapira of
Munkacz 129
Prayer Book of R Moses Shoham of
Dolina 272
Razi’el See Book of Razi’el
Record of Great Men, complete
edition (Shem ha-Gedolim ha-Shalem)
111, 121, 282
Record of the Council of the Four
Lands (Pinqas Va'ad Arba' Araçot) 40
Repairs of the Zohar (Sefer Tiqqunei
ha-Zohar) 132, 133, 250, 280, 365
Sabbath Prayer Book (Sidduro shel
Shabbat) 241, 242
Sanctity of Levi, complete edition
(Qedushat Levi ha-Shalem) 111, 126,
227, 263, 264, 290
Sayings of Pin§as, complete edition
(Imrei Pin§as ha-Shalem) 53
Shield of the Patriarchs—commentary
on Tractate Avot (Magen Avot al Avot)
112
Shoot of David (Çema§ David ) 371
Shul§an Arukh 57, 90, 269, 357, 377,
378, 379, 384
Soul of David (Nefesh David) 276
Sparks of Fire (Rishfei Esh), In Book of
Rav Yeivi 270
Splendor See Zohar
Spring of Living Water (Be’er Mayim
flayyim) 242, 244
Streets of the River, The Book of
Might and Power (Re§ovot ha-Nahar,
Sefer ha-Iliyut ve-ha-Koa§ Re§ovot
ha-Nahar) 263
Tablets of Testimony (Lu§ot Eidut)
137, 225
Tashbaç See Book of Tashbaç
Teaching of the Pious (Mishnat flasidim)
7, 252, 310
Testament of R. Israel Ba'al Shem
(Çava’at ha-Ribash) 118, 240, 255,
256, 257, 258, 260, 287, 290, 291,
301, 308, 310, 311, 313, 315, 316,
317, 336, 340, 351, 355, 356, 365,
367
This Is a Remembrance (Zot Zikkaron)
102, 243, 244, 245
To'afot Harim—The Zolochev Dynasty
36, 215
Tosefot Yom Tov 272
Tractate Avot With the commentary
Fruit of Life (Masekhet Avot im Peri
flayyim) 72, 73, 75, 110, 111, 169,
228, 325, 326, 330
Treasury of Wisdom (Oçar flokhmah)
63, 131
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Tree of Life See Lurianic Kabbalah
Two Tablets of the Covenant,
complete edition (Shenei Lu§ot ha-Berit
ha-Shalem) 59, 60, 156, 231, 310,
338, 339
315,
351,
Words
271,
Words
Uprightness of the Heart (Yosher Levav)
6, 9, 148, 284
Çaddik, Foundation of the World 85
Zohar (Book of Splendor) 62, 63, 74,
76, 78, 87, 88, 90, 93, 94, 99, 101,
103, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112,
113, 118, 120, 121, 141, 142, 146,
148, 150, 154, 160, 186, 301, 323
Zohar, Korets 5538 (1778) 132, 133,
250, 365, 370
Zohar with the Commentary of “the
Ladder” (Zohar im Peirush ha-Sulam)
99, 112, 143
Çoref See Book of Çoref
Way to Life (Ora§ le-flayyim) 126,
226, 227, 228, 264, 326
Ways of Pleasantness (Darkhei No'am)
6, 7
Ways of Righteousness (Darkhei Çedeq)
312
Ways of the Just (Darkhei Yesharim)
240, 289, 290, 292, 293, 310, 312,
316, 340, 341, 344, 347, 348,
355, 356, 362, 363, 367
of Moses (Divrei Moshe) 125,
381
of Truth (Divrei Emet) 243, 244
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INDEX OF SUBJECTS AND PLACES
Acco 174, 178, 192, 266
Adam
Primeval Adam 82, 84, 87, 112,
261, 352
Human mothers 208
Admonitions (Azharot) 60, 92, 307
Algier 112
Altona 38, 40
Amsterdam 136, 158, 164, 178, 180,
390
Amulets 44, 89, 137
Annihilation 71, 72, 82, 96, 97, 258,
259
Ansbach 38, 40
Arousal above 156, 167
Arousal below 156, 167
Asceticism 309
Assembly
Great assembly (Idra Rabba) 88, 90,
94, 106, 121
Small assembly (Idra Zuta) 94
Austerity (Perishut) 309, 310, 365, 368
Austria 48, 241
Tower of Babylon 112
Berdichev 227, 257, 263, 287
Blood libel 30, 272, 305
Brisk 320, 362, 363
Brody 8, 10, 36, 40, 42, 45, 46, 47,
48, 49, 50, 56, 57, 67, 68, 69, 92,
93, 98, 99, 102, 104, 121, 126, 127,
136, 139, 140, 142, 144, 145, 164,
165, 172, 175, 180, 181, 182, 186,
196, 199, 210, 216, 218, 225, 226,
228, 246, 270, 273, 276, 282, 284,
294, 320, 348, 362, 363, 378
Ban 49, 50, 51, 56, 57, 60, 61, 63,
64, 65, 69, 131, 140
Kloyz 40, 48, 49, 61, 63, 137, 138,
139, 140, 158, 164, 180, 194,
197, 226, 272, 276, 346
Bukovina 241
Christianity 23, 26, 49, 121, 204,
207, 272, 305
Collateral 39, 40, 41
Come my Beloved (Lekha Dodi) 90,
155
Commandments 30, 58, 81, 92, 93,
116, 117, 121, 222, 237, 241, 307,
308, 328, 329, 331, 332, 340, 342,
352, 356, 359, 360, 361, 365, 368,
383
Communion (Devequt) 82, 83, 187,
201, 310, 315, 316, 338, 339, 340,
341, 342, 343, 344, 348, 351, 354,
355, 358, 359, 361, 363, 364, 365,
366, 367, 368, 369, 375, 376, 380,
382
Congregation of Israel (kenesset Yisra’el)
See Shekhinah
Corporeality 17, 82, 349, 350, 381
Casting off corporeality 315, 348,
349, 350, 381
Covenant (Berit) See also Çaddik 120,
376
Covenant of ma'or (nakedness) 171,
224, 369, 370, 372
Covenant of the tongue 369, 370,
372
Guardians of the Sacred Covenant
34, 224, 370
Council of the Four Lands 40, 48,
246
Coupling by a kiss 95, 156, 375
Crimea 163, 175, 176
Crown See Sefirot—Keter
Cyprus 157, 163
Dalliance with children See Sexual
Offenses, Sinners
Death 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 16, 17,
18, 29, 31, 40, 44, 45, 46, 51, 52,
55, 58, 60, 61, 67, 69, 81, 94, 111,
113, 116, 118, 127, 128, 130, 133,
136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143,
144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 150, 158,
163, 173, 188, 190, 191, 192, 195,
199, 203, 210, 211, 216, 219, 220,
227, 228, 231, 233, 237, 243, 251,
254, 259, 263, 265, 268, 269, 277,
279, 280, 282, 284, 285, 287, 291,
305, 314, 324, 325, 346, 379, 382
Angel of Death 113, 143
Death of Messiah 149
Death of Redeemer 145
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index of subjects and places
Descent for the sake of the ascent
319, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 327,
328, 329, 331, 332, 333, 335, 337,
372
Dunayevtsy 305
Efficacious forces 18, 19
End
End-reckonings 7, 25, 28, 34, 62,
85, 134, 139, 157, 159, 183, 203
End of days 16, 108, 147
England 157
Epiphany at Sinai 74, 86, 87, 89, 90,
92, 93, 94, 99, 100, 105, 106, 109,
112, 115, 116, 307, 332, 344, 358
Equanimity (Hishtavut) 310, 319, 338,
339, 340, 341, 343, 344, 345, 347,
348, 349, 350, 351, 353, 354, 355,
356, 373, 382
Eternity See Sefirot—Neça§
Evil 18, 23, 26, 30, 34, 66, 112, 149,
171, 190, 238, 294, 306, 310, 321,
322, 335, 340, 350, 351, 352, 372,
374, 380, 381
Excommunications See also Brody ban,
Vilnius ban 4, 10, 139
Exile 3, 23, 62, 88, 89, 93, 94, 100,
101, 153, 155, 156, 157, 159, 160,
161, 170, 186, 218, 221
Faith 22, 49, 66, 118, 149, 157, 159,
207, 273, 278, 308, 313, 345, 351,
363, 383
Fast 42, 170, 240, 241, 356, 357,
358, 360, 361, 369, 370, 372
Female (Nuqva) 87, 91, 331
Firstborn 220, 356, 357, 358, 359,
360, 361, 372
Foundation See Sefirot—Yesod
Frankfurt 136, 226, 246
Fund (Kollel ) 40, 48, 139, 140, 162,
165, 172, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181,
189, 191, 192, 216, 225, 270, 293,
390
Volhynia fund 210, 231
flabad fund 266, 294, 388
Tiberias fund 389
Reisen fund 389, 394
Fund’s ship 174
Galati 173, 174
Galicia 8, 36, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49,
137, 165, 191, 216, 231, 241, 242,
263, 270, 272, 273, 378
Galilee 2, 106, 160, 162, 163, 176,
177, 178, 180
Garden of Eden (Gan Eden) 8, 16, 18,
21, 81, 86, 87, 94, 112, 154, 221,
226, 264, 304
Gaza 23, 43, 62, 78, 91, 119, 121,
158, 178, 302, 352
Germany 32, 48, 246, 339
Glory See Sefirot—Hod
Gog and Magog 146
Gorokhov 38, 39, 40, 371
Grace See Sefirot—flesed
Great ones See Çaddik
Grodno 141
Hamburg 38, 40
flasidim 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 13, 24, 34,
41, 55, 65, 68, 86, 117, 122, 127,
140, 141, 142, 151, 158, 165, 173,
175, 176, 181, 189, 192, 208, 209,
223, 224, 231, 241, 242, 255, 257,
264, 267, 270, 273, 282, 293, 294,
295, 303, 311, 334, 336
Dead flasidim 10
flasidei Ashkenaz (Pietists of
Germany) 113, 339, 341, 347, 351
flasidim rishonim (The Early Pious
Ones) 308, 319, 320, 366, 373,
380, 381, 382
Hasidic immigration See
Immigration (Aliyyah)
Hasidic conduct literature 117, 198,
217, 240, 255, 258, 260, 262,
264, 275, 287, 288, 289, 290,
291, 292, 301, 307, 309, 310,
311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316,
317, 319, 322, 327, 332, 333,
336, 339, 341, 343, 344, 350,
353, 354, 356, 365, 366, 367,
368, 373, 375, 376, 379
Hasidic courts
Belz 11
Bratslav 10
Gur 11, 309
Vishnitz 11, 309
Zvihil 34, 223, 224, 370
flabad 309
Chernobyl 124, 129, 261
Satmar 11
Slonim 210, 389
Karlin 260, 387
Ruzhin-Sadgura 388
Hasidic hagiography 4, 12, 14, 36,
43, 44, 46, 122, 194, 196, 198,
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index of subjects and places
199, 206, 237, 263, 265, 295,
296, 315, 316, 345
Hasidic slaughter See also Slaughter
9, 39, 53, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 199,
203, 228, 237, 238, 251, 273, 326
Haughtiness 328, 329, 330, 330, 331,
332, 333, 364
Heaven’s gate 9, 155, 156
Hebron 59, 123, 158, 160, 162, 178,
192, 210, 266, 388
Heikhalot literature 42, 105, 106,
109, 110, 121, 198
Hell See also Netherworld (She’ol ) 21,
23, 26
High Holidays of Tishri 279
Holland 180
Holiness 26, 113, 114, 138, 244, 288,
290, 321, 322, 327, 335, 366
Holy deception 352, 353
Holy of holies 73, 75, 119, 154, 155,
169, 217, 224, 274, 374
Holy Spirit 37, 65, 86, 103, 115,
168, 169, 237, 238, 240, 241, 244,
264, 273, 278, 280, 281, 295, 309,
313, 350, 371
Husks (Qelippot) 18, 24, 323, 324, 325,
328, 329, 333, 334, 335, 336, 352,
372
Iberian communities 157
Idler (batlan) 37, 38
Immersion 91, 240, 241, 265, 267,
272, 295
Immigration (aliyyah) 27, 156, 158,
159, 163, 164, 182, 211, 241, 264,
266, 267, 268, 293, 346, 389, 395
Immigration of 5642 (1882) 159
Immigration of the Perushim 159
Hasidic immigration 13, 86, 165,
166, 167, 169, 171, 173, 175,
176, 177, 179, 181, 183, 185,
187, 189, 191, 192, 199, 203,
209, 279, 280, 282, 289, 302
Messianic immigration 13, 156,
158, 159, 165, 203
Besht’s immigration 7, 14, 25, 26
Gershon of Kutov’s immigration
15, 25, 158, 202
Joseph Karo’s immigration 91, 118,
157
Shelah’s immigration 59
Inspiration (Ha’açalah) See also
Manifestation 79, 82, 86, 90, 94,
96, 101, 102, 103, 105, 107, 108,
437
137, 167, 221, 222, 242, 308, 330,
365, 368
Islam 3, 13, 62, 142, 157, 322, 352,
353
Italy 6, 107, 158, 161
Iyyar 6, 9, 10, 34, 67, 130, 131, 133,
134, 135, 136, 138, 139, 140, 141,
142, 147, 148, 150, 167, 169, 180,
183, 184, 186, 195, 250, 251, 265,
269, 281, 282, 284, 300, 311, 362
Izmir 158, 162
Jerusalem See Shekhinah
Judgment See Sefirot—Din
Kabbalah 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 15, 28,
35, 38, 49, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 76,
77, 85, 88, 89, 91, 111, 112, 113,
114, 117, 120, 124, 130, 131, 133,
135, 136, 137, 141, 145, 146, 150,
155, 156, 157, 173, 180, 193, 204,
208, 223, 224, 247, 250, 251, 252,
255, 276, 280, 285, 311, 334, 335,
346, 363, 365, 368, 370
Hidden wisdom (flen) 103, 130,
304, 326, 330, 342
Lurianic Kabbalah 6, 35, 61, 62,
63, 64, 85, 91, 111, 113, 114,
120, 133, 136, 137, 145, 150,
180, 224, 251, 252, 255, 334, 335
Practical Kabbalah 28, 38, 173
Safed Kabbalah See also Safed 3,
63, 78, 89, 135, 307, 308, 338,
341, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369,
370, 381, 382
Study of Kabbalah 7, 49, 63, 64,
131, 280, 346
Kabbalistic books 9, 131, 132, 133,
138, 148, 153, 154, 252, 260,
319, 363
Printing of kabbalistic books See also
Korets, Ostrog, Parichi 130, 197,
251
Kabbalists
Kabbalistic groups
Abraham Revigo’s group 158
Ari’s group 57, 64, 65, 85, 106,
109, 121, 123, 318, 320
Besht’s group 43
Elazar Azkari’s group 85, 106, 118
flayyim b. Attar’s group 158
Jacob Frank’s group 30, 49, 63
Joseph Karo’s group 90, 106,
109, 121, 307
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Judah flasid’s group 158
Moses flayyim Luzzatto’s
(Ram§al) group 101, 109, 111,
119
Sar Shalom Shar'abi’s group
106, 111, 121
Shabbetai Çevi’s group 10, 106,
141, 353
Simeon b. Yo§ai’s group 88,
106, 109, 111, 113, 146, 148,
320, 373, 383, 384
Ye§iel Mikhel’s group 9, 10, 11,
35, 37, 40, 57, 58, 60, 61, 64,
65, 67, 68, 71, 81, 85, 86, 93,
108, 109, 111, 117, 118, 121,
123, 124, 126, 130, 131, 138,
139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 150,
180, 186, 192, 211, 216, 227,
231, 238, 243, 268, 272, 289,
293, 308, 309, 310, 311, 319,
320, 335, 226
Mighty ones of the group 105
Kabbalistic practices 9, 49, 57,
61, 63, 65, 117, 146, 196, 199,
205, 235, 240, 255, 260, 263,
264, 265, 270, 276, 277, 287,
290, 292, 308, 309, 310, 311,
312, 315, 316, 317, 319, 322,
324, 325, 327, 339, 351, 354,
355, 356, 360, 362, 363, 365,
367, 368, 369, 370, 372, 373,
375
Kloyz, Kloyzl See Ostrog, Brody
Korets
Printing house 130, 131, 132, 133,
134, 135, 137, 138, 150, 199,
237, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254,
258, 265, 280, 299, 300, 305,
311, 312, 318
Korets abattoir 51, 52, 56, 57, 58,
60
Koshtandina (Istanbul) 136
Lag be-Omer 106, 184, 186
Land of Israel See also Immigration
(Aliyyah) 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 35, 37, 40, 59,
67, 68, 69, 72, 73, 90, 91, 95, 101,
106, 118, 119, 125, 127, 128, 130,
139, 140, 146, 147, 148, 152, 154,
155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161,
163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 169, 169,
171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 177, 178,
179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185,
186, 187, 191, 192, 199, 202, 203,
209, 210, 211, 216, 225, 226, 231,
233, 241, 242, 246, 257, 264, 265,
266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 273, 274,
276, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284,
288, 289, 293, 294, 299, 302, 303,
306, 311, 346, 364, 385, 386, 387,
388
Liberation of the Holy Land 7
Light of Israel 83, 128, 232, 290,
357, 359
Light of the world 128, 244, 290
Linkage 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73,
75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 83, 84, 85,
86, 92, 93, 98, 105, 106, 107, 111,
115, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124,
128, 129, 130, 168, 181, 188, 196,
197, 199, 201, 244, 245, 260, 307,
337, 348
Linkage document 111, 121, 128,
260
Linkage of souls 70, 72, 75, 76,
77, 78, 79, 83, 92, 168, 244, 337,
348
Love
Human love 60, 70, 72, 73, 78,
92, 93, 95, 111, 123, 124, 125,
126, 127, 128, 129, 132, 168,
182, 183, 188
Love of the one God 78, 380, 383
Lvov (Lemberg) 30, 31, 179, 228,
233, 246, 276, 285, 312
Disputations in Lvov (Lemberg) 30
Magic 20, 28, 42, 45, 205
Manifestation (Ha’açalah) 20, 156,
204, 208, 321, 339
Marriage contract 89, 388
Masturbation, See Sexual offenses,
Sinners
Matronita (the lady) See Shekhinah
Mayflower 165
Mayim Nuqvin 375, 382
Medzhibozh 14, 46, 218, 227, 230
Message 22, 31, 118, 140, 143,
172, 182, 183, 184, 185, 282,
369
Messiah See also Redeemer 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 35,
43, 47, 49, 58, 59, 66, 67, 91, 113,
114, 118, 134, 135, 142, 148, 150,
151, 160, 167, 182, 183, 186, 187,
193, 195, 196, 197, 201, 202, 204,
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206, 208, 209, 210, 220, 224, 256,
281, 282, 295, 306, 332, 335, 336,
352, 353
Messiah’s deification 153
Messiah’s reincarnation See
Reincarnation (Gilgul )
Messiah’s sanctuary 18, 306
Descent of the Messiah 63
Death of the Messiah 22, 149
Rebellion of Messiah 113
Messiah’s secrets 19, 113
Messiah’s soul 45, 63, 85, 201,
208, 370
Messiah son of David 35, 67, 155,
172, 173
Messiah son of Joseph 146, 149
False messiah 23, 26
True messiah 7, 267
Messianism 11, 23, 30, 56, 119, 131,
141, 152, 153, 155, 157, 158, 159,
161, 163, 194, 201, 203, 204, 205,
206, 209, 239, 260, 331
Messianic dates 7
Messianic immigration See
Immigration (aliyyah)
Messianic movements 3, 152, 200,
201, 203, 205
Metatron 42
Mezhirichi 132, 133
Study hall 123, 132, 197
Michael the great prince 16
Mitnaggedim 5, 31, 32, 36, 41, 107,
117, 142, 255, 319, 320, 345, 374,
378, 379, 383, 384
Moses 15, 41, 89, 90, 93, 94, 95,
96, 101, 127, 142, 143, 146, 147,
155, 169, 197, 307, 326, 331, 385
Moses’s prophecy 91, 97, 98, 99,
100, 103, 108, 109, 115
Moses’s soul 12
Mountain of Meron 106, 160, 177,
184
Nabel 173, 302, 303
Name 381, 383
Ineffable Name 112
Holy names 18, 19, 38, 44, 109,
111, 112, 113, 244, 380
Netherworld (She’ol ) See also Hell
114, 333, 372
Nocturnal emissions See Sexual
Offenses, Sinners
Nuptials (Hilula) 86, 88, 89, 91, 94,
184
439
Ostrog 39, 40, 51, 55, 185, 246, 247
Print-shop 197, 254, 255, 257
Kloyz 38, 137, 150, 246, 253
Padua 107
Parichi 131, 253, 254, 255, 256
Peace (Shalom) 111
Pequi'in 176, 178, 189
Pinsk 141, 255, 263
Pious ones, Pietists See flasidim
Plague 6, 29, 177, 189, 190, 268,
299, 385, 391,
Podolia 14, 29, 30, 173
Pogroms 29, 30
Pogroms of 5408–5409 (1648–1649)
246, 272
Pogroms of 5689 (1929) 192, 266
Poland 7, 40, 48, 67, 242, 255, 284
Polished knives See also Slaughter 57
Poor afflicted and humble 21, 23,
170
Prague 37, 40, 47, 59, 223, 246
Prayer
Prayer assembly 61
Prayer house (beit minyan) 8, 9, 50,
61, 62, 68, 69, 81, 92, 93, 95, 98,
99, 102, 103, 104, 116, 121, 122,
126, 172, 199, 284
Sanctuary of prayer 68, 71, 72, 73,
74, 87, 88, 110, 169, 210, 239,
284
Linkage in prayer See also Linkage
15, 19, 77, 79, 124
Secrets of prayer 73, 74, 110
Swaying during prayer 373, 374,
377
Tardy prayer 377
Unifications in prayer See
Unifications
Prayer books 123, 124, 125
Closing (Ne'ilah) prayer 190
Recitation of the shema' 80, 92, 93,
123, 124, 383, 384
Priest 107, 169, 209, 326, 356, 374
Print
Printing kabbalistic manuscripts 24,
59, 63, 64, 130, 131, 132, 133,
134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139,
140, 141, 142, 145, 150, 157,
166, 190, 192, 195, 196, 197,
199, 223, 224, 227, 228, 231,
232, 233, 234, 237, 239, 250,
251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256,
257, 259, 260, 264, 265, 266,
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267, 269, 271, 275, 276, 277,
279, 280, 284, 287, 290, 291,
292, 300, 301, 303, 304, 311,
312, 313, 316, 317, 333, 358
Print-shops 130, 131, 132, 133,
134, 135, 137, 138, 150, 197,
199, 237, 250, 251, 252, 253,
254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 265,
280, 299, 300, 305, 311, 312, 318
Prophecy 16, 22, 33, 42, 43, 90, 91,
97, 99, 100, 101, 106, 108, 118,
154, 168, 191, 212
Prophetic mind 167
Psalms 99, 308, 334, 338, 383
Psalm 107 293, 322, 323, 324,
325, 332, 333, 334, 372
Quorum
101, 121
Rabbinic emissary 139, 184, 185,
189, 267, 268, 282, 283, 293, 294,
390, 393
Raziel 261
Realms
Earthly realms 111
Heavenly realms 5, 30, 37, 64,
111, 145, 197, 305, 306
Red heifer 324, 325, 326, 327, 328,
329, 330, 331, 332, 333
Redeemer See also Messiah 5, 8, 11,
12, 113, 118, 127, 133, 150, 155,
198, 202, 208, 238, 253, 254, 265
Death of the redeemer 145
Soul of the redeemer 95, 108, 146
Redemption
Herald of redemption 5, 15, 195,
198, 201
Era of redemption 5, 9, 24
Time of redemption 6, 24, 34, 67,
86, 87, 136, 157, 184, 300
Year of redemption 25, 85, 157,
158
Unfolding of redemption
Secrets of redemption 9, 113, 134
National redemption 3, 8, 156, 201
Redemption of individual 3, 12,
156, 201
Redemption of Shekhinah See
Shekhinah
Redemption of world 43, 119, 145,
146
Reincarnation (Gilgul ) 12, 30, 45, 58,
60, 94, 106, 107, 108, 118, 141,
146, 197, 198, 201, 320, 371
Reisen 191, 389
Repair (Tiqqun)
Repair of nation
Repair of reincarnation See also
Reincarnation (Gilgul ) 45
Repair of Shekhinah See Shekhinah
Repair of soul 7, 19, 26, 43
Repair of world 43, 63, 85, 88,
111, 114, 147
Resurrection 16, 161, 185, 186, 241,
322, 335
Rome 21, 22, 23
Rosh ha-Shanah 8, 16, 17, 24, 26, 29,
147, 161, 174, 185, 195, 284, 299,
304, 305, 306
Rovno 31, 32, 285, 295, 296
Russia 7, 48, 67, 144, 172, 176, 260,
294, 384, 389, 390
White Russia 165, 216, 264, 270
Sabbath See Çaddik
Sabbateanism 3, 13, 49, 63, 193,
200, 335, 353
Sabbatean calculations 5
Sabbatean circles 5, 67
Sabbatean essays 85, 91
Safed 6, 60, 62, 63, 78, 106, 117,
123, 124, 135, 143, 160, 162, 172,
173, 176, 177, 178, 179, 189, 192,
241, 257, 260, 264, 270, 282, 283,
307, 308, 310, 346, 385, 388, 389,
390, 391, 392
Salonika 90, 106, 135, 157, 318
Sama’el see also Sitra A§ra, Satan 26
Sanctity 63, 148, 167, 187, 210, 241,
281, 288, 290
Sanctuary
Bride’s sanctuary 88
King’s sanctuary 71, 72
Messiah’s sanctuary See Messiah
Sanctuary of the sapphire pavement
73, 75, 119, 169
Sanctuary of prayer See Prayer
Sanctuary on high 68
Sanhedrin 105, 157, 160, 161
Satan See also Sitra A§ra, Sama’el 26,
27, 29, 201, 350, 352
Secrets 19, 73, 80, 111, 112, 113,
130, 134, 135, 140, 145, 150, 151,
206, 219, 223, 253, 300, 311, 352,
367
Sect 8, 11, 37, 55, 56, 63, 106, 107,
118, 122, 140, 141, 142, 170, 203,
212, 255, 320, 366
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Sefirot
Crown (Keter) 76
Eternity (Neça§) 76
Foundation (Yesod; Çaddik) 8, 47, 76
Glory (Hod) 76
Grace (flesed; Abraham) 74, 76
Judgment (Din; Isaac) 74, 76, 79,
120
Splendor (Tif ’eret; Jacob) 74, 76,
79, 120
Sovereignty (Malkhut) See also
Shekhinah 76, 87, 153
Understanding (Binah) 76
Wisdom (flokhmah) 76
Select few See Çaddik
Sexual offenses See also Sinners
Dalliance with children 35
Masturbation 35, 369, 370
Nocturnal emissions 35
Shaddai
El Shaddai 8, 83, 84, 85
Kingdom of Shaddai 85
Soul of Shaddai 8, 81, 82, 83, 84,
85, 92, 95, 99, 102, 108, 115,
119, 202, 209, 336
Shavuot 9, 17, 29, 67, 68, 69, 72,
80, 81, 83, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91,
92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 101, 104,
105, 106, 108, 117, 118, 119, 130,
134, 174, 196, 199, 245, 277, 279,
307, 348
Shefaram 160, 178
Shekhem 178
Shekhinah See also Sefirot—sovereignty
(Malkhut) 77, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90,
91, 92, 94, 96, 97, 99, 100, 101,
102, 103, 120, 153, 155, 170, 184,
241, 375, 376
Lower mother 87, 103
Repair of Shekhinah 93, 118, 119,
238
Redemption of Shekhinah 95, 118,
156
Speech of Shekhinah 96, 97, 99,
101, 102, 198, 222, 376, 377
As Congregation of Israel (Kenesset
Yisra’el ) 77, 87, 88, 89, 93, 101,
120, 153, 201
As Jerusalem 89, 152, 153, 154,
155
As Matriarch Rachel 77
As Matronita (the lady) 77, 94, 103
As Zion 87, 89, 91, 153, 154
Shklov 158, 265, 382, 390
441
Sidon 160, 163
Sitra A§ra (the other side) See also
Sama’el, Satan 350
Sinners 19, 26, 42, 47, 58, 59, 60,
63, 114, 203, 323, 325, 328, 330,
332, 333, 372
Sivtuvka (Shpatuvka) 305
Slaughter
Hasidic slaughter See flasidim
Slaughterhouse 9, 247, 250, 258
Slutsk 141
Small face (Ze'ir Anpin) 91, 382
Sodom 56
Solitude (Hitbodedut) 152, 310, 365,
366, 367, 368
Soul
Messiah’s soul See Messiah
Moses’s soul See Moses
Soul of Shaddai See Shaddai
Soul of Çaddik See Çaddik
Souls of all Israel 70
Souls of sinners See also Sinners
19, 26, 58, 59, 60, 114, 203,
330
Ascents of soul 16
Linkage of souls See Linkage
Reincarnation of souls See
Reincarnation (Gilgul )
Repair of souls See Repair
Replication of souls 109
Unification of souls See Unification
Sovereignty See sefiraot—Malkhut
Spain 90, 116, 146, 203
Sparks 26, 47, 63, 114, 202, 238,
322, 327, 333, 334, 335, 336,
337, 372
Gathering up the sparks 26
Splendor See sefirot—Tif’eret
Stolin archive 128, 225, 260, 262,
303
Talmud’s burning 30
Taxes 39, 48, 163, 226, 247
Torah
Letters of Torah 19, 343, 376
Oral Torah 30
Torah’s secrets 112, 145, 367
Torah reading 134, 142, 300
Torah study 38, 49, 88, 90, 91,
240, 315, 319, 333, 339, 340,
344, 346, 348, 354, 355, 356,
357, 358, 359, 361, 362, 363,
364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369,
371, 376
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Temple 5, 61, 73, 74, 75, 76, 93,
100, 101, 119, 120, 153, 154, 155,
160, 161, 168, 169, 331, 378
Theurgy 88
Intrusive thoughts 315, 322
Tiberias 27, 60, 139, 158, 160, 161,
162, 163, 164, 174, 177, 178, 179,
180, 181, 184, 185, 186, 188, 189,
190, 191, 192, 210, 264, 265, 266,
267, 283, 288, 385, 386, 387, 388,
389, 390, 391, 393, 394
Tiqqun see Repair
Trieste 48
Tunis 158, 173, 302, 303
Turkey 67, 294
Ukraine 9, 49, 55, 137, 173
Understanding See Sefirot—Binah
Unifications 18, 24, 28, 73, 367, 375
Volynhia 191, 216, 225, 231, 270
Vilnius 139, 140, 141, 180, 181, 182,
265, 320, 362, 363
Vilnius ban 141
Watchman 190, 191
Warsaw 36, 215, 285, 312
Wealthy class 9
Wisdom 33, 38, 55, 66, 102, 103,
130, 131, 150, 167, 266, 275, 294,
300, 301, 304, 317, 326, 330, 342,
365
As primordial condition (Qadmut
ha-Sekhel) 167
Wisdom See Sefirot—flokhmah 76
Wise one of the generation See Çaddik
36, 70, 71, 77, 79, 115, 240
World, Worlds
This world 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24,
29, 43, 45, 63, 71, 72, 76, 78, 80,
82, 83, 84, 85, 88, 89, 91, 97, 98,
109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 115,
119, 120, 124, 128, 142, 143,
144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150,
153, 155, 159, 164, 165, 171,
186, 195, 201, 202, 204, 207,
208, 222, 239, 240, 241, 244,
261, 266, 281, 288, 290, 313,
314, 322, 324, 327, 328, 330,
333, 335, 336, 339, 340, 342,
349, 352, 366, 367, 370, 371,
375, 376
World-to-come 15, 21, 47, 62, 66,
70, 71, 96, 112, 125, 128, 133,
138, 182, 227, 228, 229, 230,
239, 240, 242, 244, 257, 259,
262, 266, 271, 273, 274, 275,
282, 285, 313, 324, 325, 332,
341, 381
Lower worlds 86, 88, 91
Upper worlds 9, 15, 18, 30, 64,
68, 72, 75, 80, 88, 92, 93, 150,
167, 198, 205, 217, 263, 321,
334, 343, 351, 371, 382
Yampol 40, 46, 47, 144, 289, 292
Yemen 159, 390
Yom Kippur 29, 147, 190, 284, 374
Çaddik
Çaddik’s descent 319, 321, 322, 323,
324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 331,
332, 333, 334, 335, 337, 372
Çaddik’s soul 70, 79, 83, 109, 111,
120, 125, 244, 333
Çaddik of the generation 208
Sefirah of Çaddik See Sefirot—Foundation
Designation of Messiah 4
Designation of Ye§iel Mikhel 68,
75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 85, 208,
209
True Çaddik 208
As covenant (Berit) 120, 376
As great ones 36, 72, 73, 74, 75,
77, 79, 110, 115, 169, 271, 280,
281
As wise one of the generation 36,
70, 71, 77, 79, 115, 240
As select few 74, 75, 77, 101, 111,
119
As Sabbath 245
As red heifer 326, 327, 328, 329,
330, 331, 332
Çaddik the son of a Çaddik 37, 363
Çaddikim she-ba-dor (the righteous ones
of the generation) 8, 36, 70, 77,
79, 115, 125, 245, 336
Zalsbach 136
Zaslov 305
Zolochev 29, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39,
41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 49, 51, 116, 124,
125, 137, 140, 200, 215, 216, 217,
222, 224, 225, 226, 227, 257, 285,
286, 289, 317, 325, 335, 336, 345,
360
Zolvo 141, 320
Zion See Shekhinah
Zionism 11, 13, 165, 210
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